One Is The Loneliest Number
by Mystewitch
Summary: After that shared kiss, Damon believes that Elena returns his feelings, at least in part. This is my version of what happens after the season one finale.
1. It's In Her Kiss

Vampire Diaries fanfic

Damon and Elena Pairing – what takes place after the season finale, in my own version of things.

*Disclaimer, I don't own any of these characters or the pre-existing plot.

_He moved a fraction closer, torn between what he wanted to do and what he knew was right. Placing a chaste kiss to her cheek, he had almost decided to leave it at that, but something in her eyes held him there, transfixed. For a long pregnant pause, he hung there, unable to pull away completely. There was so much more he wanted to say, to make her understand…_

_Surely she would move away. As Damon leaned closer, he half expected her to draw back with disgust, see those dark eyes harden with disdain, but all he saw was acceptance. Maybe he was only seeing what he wanted to see, but finally deciding that he didn't care, he closed the distance between them, brushing his lips against hers tentatively. A thrill coursed through him when she didn't reject him, and the blood sang in his veins as he felt the tentative touch of her tongue against his. _

_This was far more than he could have hoped for, and his hand sank into her dark tresses, binding her to him as he tried to show her with his kiss what he couldn't quite bring himself to say aloud. _

_When Jenna opened the door, Damon could have joyfully wrung her neck. Pulling away guiltily, he couldn't look at Elena, couldn't bring himself to see the regret on her lovely face. He could hear the frosty censure in Jenna's tone, but that was the least of his worries, he could care less about what she thought of him, she was less than nothing to him. Still roiling from the rapid swirl of emotions, Damon looked up to catch a final glimpse of Elena before she disappeared inside, her expression inscrutable. A little smirk was given and he was on his way, trusting the chilly night air to cool his blood. _

Deciding to walk home, Damon's step grew jauntier the further he went, and he began to whistle a cheerful tune, his heart feeling light. Ok so things hadn't ended exactly as he might have wished, but… she'd kissed him back. It was more than he'd thought possible given her feelings for Stefan.

She might have pangs of regret and torture herself over that momentary betrayal of his brother, but the fact remained; something had passed between them and now that he had his foot in that particular door… who knew what the future would bring? It gave him something he had thought lost for longer than he could remember.

Hope.

Not bothering to keep it down as he entered the Salvatore mansion, Damon continued to whistle, heading straight for the liquor cabinet, and pouring himself a healthy drink.

"You seem awful chipper." Stefan's voice rose from the shadows near the fireplace, tinged with suspicion as always.

"Baby brother!" Damon called out cheerfully. "What are you doing sitting here all alone in the dark? Oh no wait… brooding in the dark, must be Thursday night." He raised the glass in a toast and drank deeply, sauntering over to the fireplace to lean casually against the mantle.

Stefan bristled at the appellation, as if the scant few years between them made much difference after all this time. Just as quickly he scolded himself for letting his brother get to him all the time. He hated to think what Damon had been up to out there to put that smirk on his face. "What have you been up to?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" The trademark smirk was deliberately in place as Damon turned to face him.

"Damon…"

"Cool your jets, I was just out… having fun." A raise of a single eyebrow was given. If he only knew…

That smug tone got under Stefan's skin, but even knowing it was deliberate, he wasn't able to resist it. "What are you up to Damon? Can't you just give it a rest? Wasn't almost dying enough excitement for one night?"

A short bark of laughter left his lips. "Are you kidding? What better time is there to celebrate the un-life we lead then having just cheated death? Again!" Sometimes he truly did not understand Stefan. The guy had everything, what the hell did he have to be so fucking gloomy about? "In fact… why aren't you out celebrating or consoling or whatever it is you do with your main squeeze?"

Stefan spoke slowly, as if explaining to a small child. "Because some of us found the whole double pronged attack to be a little fatiguing, and she just wanted to get some rest."

"Really? She seemed fine to me," Damon returned nonchalantly, swirling the last bit of drink in his glass and downing it.

In one swift, seamless motion, Stefan was up and out of his chair, slamming Damon's shoulders up against the hard mantelpiece. "What did you do to her!" he demanded.

"You know green really isn't the best color on you, little brother. You should really stick to warm tones with your complexion," Damon replied, seemingly unaffected by the display of anger, his smug grin firmly in place.

"I'm warning you, stay away from her." Stefan's voice was low and menacing, but there was an undercurrent of something akin to panic in his tone. This thing between Elena and Damon, friendship or whatever they liked to call it, did not sit well with him at all. It was only a matter of time before Elena was hurt, in his opinion.

Just as quickly, Damon pushed Stefan's hands from his shoulders easily, turning his back on him as he moved to the bar to refill his glass. "I have no intention of doing anything to Elena…" he looked up to catch his brother's gaze, "that she doesn't want me to do."

Stefan stared back at him, inwardly seething. Realizing he'd just been reacting as Damon had wanted, he tried to keep from giving him the satisfaction of knowing just how much he'd gotten to him.

Impressive. Damon could see the veins throbbing in Stefan's forehead from across the room but he hadn't risen to the bait. "Maybe you should be having this conversation with your girl. If… she still is… your girl." With a waggle of the eyebrows, Damon turned away dismissively, taking his drink upstairs to his bedroom.

Watching him with impotent rage, Stefan struggled to get his emotions under control. Going to the bar, he poured himself a hefty drink and downed it instantly, pouring himself a refill. The alcohol brought a welcome burn to his throat and warmed him, but it was no substitute for the craving that chose now to rear its ugly head. Grasping the edge of the table, he fought the swoon of temptation that swept through him, making him near dizzy for want of blood.

"One… two…three…" By the time he reached ten he could focus enough to open his eyes. Only then did he notice his hand, the glass shattered, fat droplets of blood welling where the broken shards of crystal were embedded in his flesh. Stefan stared at the blood, his mouth going dry.

Picking up his keys with a bloody swipe of his hand, Stefan stormed out into the night.

***feedback is love people.


	2. Stolen Memories

Damon and Elena Pairing – what takes place after the season finale, in my own version of things.

*Disclaimer, I don't own any of these characters or the pre-existing plot.

A/N: Thanks for all the great feedback! It means a lot. To clarify, in the last chapter, that was indeed Katherine kissing Damon but he doesn't realize it. He believes he and Elena have just shared that poignant moment together. More fun to ensue over that misconception!

Elena tucked away her cell phone as she opened the front door, her annoyance at having her beautiful dress stolen fading fast in the face of her fatigue. All she wanted now was something warm to drink and a good night's rest.

It had been a long, long day between the founder's day celebrations, the threat of attack from the tomb vampires, the town council's attack on the vampires… In everything it had felt like she was right in the thick of things, running herself ragged.

"Jeremy, are you up?" She called out from the bottom of the stairs. There was no reply, but Elena had no idea if it was because he was asleep, just ignoring her or not even at home. At this point anything was possible, and she was too tired to worry overmuch about him tonight. Eventually they'd work things out, she was confident of that. No matter what, they were family, the bond thicker than blood.

The lights were on in the kitchen and Elena assumed Jenna was in there waiting up for her, or possibly even Uncle John. Scratch that… her father. The idea still made her feel all squiggly and uncomfortable inside. How could a man who had repulsed her for years be her biological father? Wouldn't she feel some sort of bond for the man she had a genetic link to? Because most of the time it was all she could do to put up with him without wanting to smash his smug face in.

"Jenna?" she called out, stepping into the kitchen, freezing mid-yawn when she caught sight of her aunt.

"Hi sweetie, did you have a nice time at the founder's day celebration?" Jenna smiled brightly from her position on the floor, scrubbing up a dark viscous pool of blood. There was blood everywhere. Spattered across the cabinets, the counter, the fridge, soaked into the knees of her aunt's jeans and jarringly smeared across her forehead; it looked like someone had been slaughtered in their kitchen. While Elena stared, Jenna swiped at an errant piece of hair, tucking it behind her ear and unconcernedly leaving another trail of blood across her face.

"Who… where did…" At a loss for words, Elena could only stare at Jenna who seemed completely unfazed by her grisly task.

"Cat got your tongue?" Jenna grinned, rising to her feet to pour out a bucket of crimson water into the sink and refill it with clean water.

"Jenna… what are you doing?" Elena managed to get out finally. "What happened here?"

"Oh you know, just cleaning up. You kids can be so messy sometimes." Jenna shook her head with a reserved sigh. "You want some cocoa or something? You look kind of tired." While the bucket filled, she approached Elena, bloodstained hand outstretched.

Elena jumped backwards, her head spinning. It was as if Jenna couldn't even see the blood. No, that wasn't it exactly… she could obviously see the blood, she knew where to clean, she just didn't see anything _wrong _with their kitchen being covered in blood. That could only mean one thing… "Jenna, do you know who made this mess?" She asked gently. "Who was here tonight?"

Jenna frowned over Elena's withdrawal but shrugged it off, teenagers could be so moody sometimes… "You know sweetie, I don't mind if your boyfriend drops by but it really shouldn't be so late at night."

"Stefan was here? Stefan did this?"

"Did what honey?" Jenna gave her a slightly dazed smile.

_Oh god, oh god, oh god_… A sick feeling of dread seized hold of her and her stomach gave an alarming lurch. "Where's Jeremy?" She asked suddenly, turning for the stairs.

"I think he's upstairs…" Jenna called out, already back at her task, scrubbing away like mad.

Fairly flying up the stairs, Elena reached Jeremy's door, heart beating a fast tattoo beneath her breast as she burst into his room. "Jeremy?" She panted, spotting him sprawled across his bed.

Jeremy gave no response, but shivered ever so slightly.

Sharp relief pierced her, releasing the hold on her panic, her chest eased and she was able to draw a full, steadying breath. He was safe. Immediately it called into question just whose blood that had been in the kitchen and what the hell had been going on in her house but for the moment a faint smile tugged at her lips, seeing her little brother lying there asleep.

The smile grew into a smirk as she noticed he hadn't even bothered to take off his shoes, and she reached down to pull them off, tossing them aside carelessly. Jeremy gave another shiver, and she drew the comforter around him, tucking him in as she would a small child. "Sweet dreams Jer." She smiled down at him before heading into her room, already drawing out her phone and dialing Stefan's number.

By the time she reached the sanctuary of her bedroom, the dread had returned; compounded by the fact that Stefan's phone went to voicemail. "Stefan? It's me. Please call me back as soon as you get this, ok? I really need to talk to you."

Sitting down on the corner of her bed, she stared into nothingness as she tried to process what she'd seen downstairs. That was a lot of blood… whoever it belonged to was probably dead. Jenna and Jeremy were ok… that left… John? Both Stefan and Damon had motive aplenty for killing John after the night's attack, but would Stefan really do something like that? And in her own home? She just couldn't believe him capable of leaving such a mess behind without trying to talk to her about it, to explain…

Trying his number again, she left no message this time, teeth worrying at her bottom lip as she decided to call the one other person who might possibly shed some light on the night's events.

Damon.

**A/N: Ok I realize the timing is a little iffy here, but I'm going with the premise that we don't know how much time elapsed between the kiss between Katherine and Damon on the porch and Elena arriving at home. **

***feedback is love people.


	3. Under My Skin

**Damon and Elena Pairing – what takes place after the season finale, in my own version of things. **

***Disclaimer, I don't own any of these characters or the pre-existing plot.**

**A/N: Thanks for all the great feedback, it really keeps me motivated to keep writing more **** And now, as promised… Damon and Elena…**

Damon lay back on his bed, near empty glass resting comfortably on his stomach as he contemplated the events of the day. Founder's day parade… good. Having his ears bleed out… bad. Elena in that dress…good. Nearly burning to death… bad. That kiss…

That kiss… it was a world unto itself.

God, he was getting to be as bad as Stefan, mooning over a girl like a lovesick puppy, he snorted disgustedly. His only saving grace was that she'd been a willing participant on the other end of that kiss, no compulsion, no pressure, hell he hadn't even had to do that eye thing she seemed to be so susceptible to. Now he just had to play it cool, give it some time to really get under her skin.

His phone buzzed on the nightstand next to him, and Damon picked it up, blinking in surprise when Elena's name popped up on the display. "That didn't take long…" he murmured, his lips quirking into a smile as he flipped it open. "Elena…" He purred, in his best bedroom voice.

"Have you seen Stefan?" Elena's voice sounded relieved to have reached him, but Damon could have done without that particular question.

"Not _exactly_ how I envisioned this conversation starting," he smirked.

"Damon, have you seen him or not?" She got up and started to pace agitatedly, willing him to cut the bullshit and just be straight with her.

"No, why? Having some second thoughts about your relationship?" She sounded ticked, had they had a lover's quarrel?

What the hell was he going on about? "This is so not the time for this," Elena muttered, raking her fingers through her hair. "Do you have any idea where he might be? I really need to talk to him."

Damon sat up on the bed, the distress in her voice finally registering. "What is it? What's wrong?" he demanded, instantly sobering.

"I don't know exactly, but..."

"I'll be right there."

Damon was halfway there before he had the presence of mind to wonder… When had he turned into a lap dog that jumped at the first whistle from its master? All it had taken was the beckon of her lovely hand and he'd come running, it was downright embarrassing. And he was waiting to get under_ her_ skin? Hell, the girl was in his blood and he hadn't even had the pleasure of tasting her yet.

Her light was on, and he paused outside the house, standing in the flower bed, extending his senses; but there was no sign of trouble that he could detect. Deciding to save a couple of steps, he went straight for her bedroom window, hesitating only long enough to make sure she was alone before tapping at the windowpane.

Elena jumped in surprise at the sudden tap, moving swiftly to the window, she unlatched it and stepped back. "Thank god you're here…"

"Now _that's_ what I like to hear." Damon smiled broadly, vaulting smoothly through the window to join her.

A roll of the eyes was given. "I'm serious Damon, something really bad has happened."

His brows drew together with instant concern. "Are you ok? You're not hurt are you?" Closing the distance between them, his eyes swept over her for any sign of injury.

"No," she shook her head, waving off his worry. "It's not me but… when I came home, the kitchen was covered in blood and Jenna was right in the middle of it playing Suzie Homemaker like nothing was wrong."

"Huh." Of all the things she could have said he hadn't been expecting that one. "Well that's not something you see every day." He remarked dryly, sitting down on the edge of her bed without an invitation. "She's ok though, right? And Jeremy?" Otherwise she wouldn't be leading the conversation with the bloodstains.

"I think you're missing the big picture here. Kitchen full of blood? It obviously belongs to someone. And…" Elena took a deep shuddering breath. "She said that Stefan had been here." Her eyes were large and luminous, waiting for him to tell her she was being ridiculous for jumping to conclusions.

"Stefan?" A single brow rose skeptically, "Doesn't really sound like his style, actually sounds a little more like mine," he added with a wry twist of the lips.

"That's not funny…"

"No, I'm serious. Leaving a mess behind for someone else to clean up with a merry song in her heart, blaming it on Stefan… yeah I'd say this pretty much fits my pattern."

Elena looked up in shock, was he admitting to…

"Don't get your panties in a twist, not that I wouldn't mind affecting your panties…" he waggled his brows, leaning back upon her bed comfortably. "…and I can't believe that I'm saying this… don't jump to conclusions just because she mentioned Stefan. If I was going to compel someone in a situation like this, the first thing I'd think of was who to blame it all on, someone convenient."

"Then you don't think it was him?" Elena's face brightened, the constriction she felt around her chest easing so that she felt she could draw a full breath again.

"Not so fast Angel, it could just be the sign of sloppy work, and Stefan… well he's never been as good at the whole compelling thing as I am. Something about the moral issues inherent in taking away someone's free will, blah, blah, blah…" his head wagged back and forth for emphasis as he rose from the bed, "I don't know, I wasn't really listening. The point is, we don't know what it is we're dealing with, so take a breath, and leave it all to me." He placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Leave what all to you? You just said we don't know anything." Elena's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Well duh, I've only been here for like two seconds. Don't worry your pretty little head about it." Damon smirked, dropping a brief kiss to her forehead, he moved past her to the door and out into the hall, heading for the stairs.

"Wait… Damon…" Elena started after him. "I have a bad feeling about this…" She muttered, hurrying down the stairs after him.

By the time she made it into the kitchen, Damon was already there, utterly confounded as Jenna lit into him the moment she saw him.

"I mean you just don't _walk _all over someone's clean kitchen floor! Do you even know how long it took me to get it to shine like that? You don't do you? You never think about anyone but yourself, you and your stupid… all knowing smirk, and those… bedroom eyes, you just expect everyone to fall at your feet! You… you… think you're like… god's gift to Mystic Falls, don't you!" Jenna's voice was rising, practically sputtering in her need to vent her frustration, she took a threatening step closer to him.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's ok." Elena interjected, wrapping an arm around Jenna's shoulder and drawing her away from Damon for fear that she might actually try and lunge for his throat in the next moment. She gave Damon a look, as if to say, _what the hell did you do to her?_

Damon shrugged back, for once absolutely baffled at getting a completely unprovoked reaction out of someone. It was kind of interesting though, "I wonder what she would say if she knew what I did to her flower bed?" Dimly he wondered if it had to do with the kiss she'd walked in on between him and Elena? If so, why pick him apart over her kitchen floor? Women…

"You're not helping." Elena scowled at him, still trying to soothe her aunt. "Jenna, I'm sure that Damon is… sorry that he walked on your floor. Damon, say you're sorry." Her eyes flicked up to prompt him to do as instructed.

"Ok, enough of this Dr. Phil crap." Damon, closed the distance between them in a heartbeat, looking intently into Jenna's eyes. Extending his will, her eyes dilated in response and she fell silent. "Yeah that's better isn't it Jenna?"

"Better." Jenna breathed, giving the faintest of nods as she stared back at Damon.

"You're feeling really tired. You had a long day with all the fun festivities. All you want now is a nice hot shower and to go to beddy bye, don't you?" He maintained eye contact, sensing just a little resistance, but nothing he couldn't handle.

"Nice hot shower." Jenna repeated, nodding faintly again.

"You never really liked those jeans, they make your ass look fat. You're gonna get rid of them tonight before you go to bed." He could practically feel Elena's look in his peripheral vision, but kept his focus.

"Hate these jeans." Jenna murmured.

"And ah, let's see what else…" While he was at it, might as well make this count. "Everything is just honky dory, right as rain, nothing to worry about. Elena's just fine, and you aren't worried about her at all. In fact, you love that she's hanging out with me lately, I'm a fine example, and a good influence on both her and Stefan."

"Fine example." She parroted.

Damon held her under his sway for a moment longer before releasing her, taking a step back out of her personal space. "So, we good here?" He smiled widely.

Jenna blinked, and stared at first Damon and then Elena blankly before breaking into a wide smile. "Oh god, this is so embarrassing! I'm sorry what did you say? I guess I lost track of the conversation there for a minute, I must be more tired than I thought!"

"I was just saying you look like you could use a hot shower and a good night's sleep." Damon replied with a charming smile. "Right Elena?"

"Uh… yeah…" Elena watched her aunt carefully for a moment before returning the smile. "You do look kinda tired."

"Not something a girl likes to hear." Jenna chided her teasingly, elbowing her lightly in the side.

"I didn't mean…"

"No it's fine, you're right, I am really tired." Jenna covered a yawn with her hand. "I'm gonna head up now, lock up before you go to bed ok?" Giving Elena's shoulder a light pat, she smiled at the two and headed for the stairs.

"Why did you do that?" Elena hissed, moving closer to Damon as soon as she was out of sight.

"What? I thought that's what you wanted me to do."

"You have no right to go around… messing with people's heads just because you can."

"Hey, it's not like I told her to chuck it all and become a stripper… not that I have anything against strippers…"

"Damon…"

"Why do you always say my name like that? Like I don't realize what it is I've just done. Of course I realize it… I just don't care." He grinned.

"I don't know why I even bother…" Elena moved away from him.

Damon reached out to stop her, catching her arm and pulling her back to him, but gently. "Hey, I was just trying to help. Make things easier for you, you know? I figured she might be a little ticked about before, so why not smooth things over?"

"She might be ticked about what?"

The timbre of his voice changed, grew more intimate. "You know, us."

"There is no us." Elena scoffed, but she remained still, arrested by his intense gaze.

"Oh there's an us…" Damon reached up to tuck an errant curl behind her ear, the backs of his fingers grazing against her cheek in the process. "It might not be the right kind of us yet… but there's an us." He gave her a knowing smile.

Elena's mouth went dry and her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. She could feel her heart beating faster and she cursed her traitorous body for responding to his touch. "Damon…."

"Yeah Angel?" His thumb brushed lightly over her bottom lip, remembering the taste of it.

Something akin to pain flashed over her features as the desire to draw his thumb into her mouth struck her with an almost unbearable intensity and her lips parted, seemingly of their own volition. With a great deal of will, she turned her thoughts back to the problem at hand, struggling to find her voice. "I need to find Stefan," she whispered.

The clenching of his jaw was the only sign of what those words cost him, but it was gone in an instant. "Right, of course you do." He gave her a tight smile, releasing her and moving to lean casually against the kitchen counter. "So, where do you suggest we start?"

It took Elena a few moments longer to recover, but as he moved away she found it easier to think again. "Were you able to find out anything from Jenna?"

"Ah…she's been compelled to forget?" He replied, not quite sure of what else she expected from him, she'd been standing right there for almost the entire conversation with Jenna..

"Tell me something I don't know," she replied sourly. "Can you tell who did it?"

"Sorry, doesn't work that way," Damon gave a shake of the head, hopping up onto the counter. He frowned as a thought occurred to him. "I thought you gave her and Jeremy both those little vervain trinkets, to keep this sort of thing from happening?"

"Yeah... I didn't notice if she had it on just then." Elena turned to look in the direction her aunt had disappeared in. "I'm pretty sure that Jeremy wears his all the time though. I'll have to check and see if she still has it."

"So whoever it was, was either strong enough to counteract the vervain in the first place, or charming enough to get her to take it off." Neither option sounded all that appealing to him.

Stefan could have gotten her to take if off. The thought popped into Elena's mind. After all, she knew him, trusted him. If he'd asked to see it, Jenna would have removed it for sure.

"Well whoever it was, they sure aren't a fan of mine." Damon muttered, hopping down from the counter.

.

"Great, that only narrows it down to what… half the town?" Elena smirked.

"Ouch…" Damon clutched his heart. "You know you should be careful what you say to me, you could bruise my tender feelings, I'm a delicate flower you know." He scolded her lightly. "Ah, who am I kidding, I don't have feelings." He gave a lopsided grin.

"Yes you do." Elena replied soberly, wondering not for the first time just what those feelings might be.

Looking up, Damon caught her gaze, the faintest trace of vulnerability there should she choose to see it before he locked it away again with his ready smile. "Well, time to get this show on the road." He clapped his hands together, moving for the back door.

"I'm coming with you." Elena insisted, following right behind him.

"You don't have to do that. Stay here, get some rest, I'll find him and have him call you tomorrow. You'll see, before you know it the sun'll come out tomorrow and things will look up."

"No, I need to know what's going on. It's not like I'm going to be able to just fall asleep with this going on anyway."

Damon hesitated, his desire to be around her warring with his desire to keep her safe. "You'll just slow me down."

"Fine then we'll split up and I'll look for him on my own." Her chin came up in determination.

"You never do what you're told do you?" He sighed. "Good, that's what I like about you. Let's go."

**A/N: Ok so this chapter ended up really long. What do you guys think, in the future divide it up into two chapters or keep it as one long one?**

*****feedback is love people. **


	4. Meanwhile

**A/N: Ok so a little bit of what's going on with some of the other characters before we get back to Damon and Elena (who I have to admit are the most fun to write for!) Thanks for all the reviews, you guys are fantastic! This is my first go at writing fanfic (normally I write original stuff) and it's nice to know I'm not shaming the series! **

***warning, there is a little bit of gore in this chapter. But hey, you can't have vampires and not have a little bloodshed from time to time, right? **

John first became aware of a slow steady sound. A dull plodding thump that echoed in his ears with an almost... wet quality. As if fat droplets of water were falling from a rain gutter to a tin shed below some time after the rain had stopped. Plop... plop... plop…

Each sound reverberated in his head, causing a corresponding stab of pain in his temples and he groaned softly; struggling to open eyes that felt swollen and gritty. Harsh fluorescent lighting burned and he immediately squinched them shut again, instinctively moving to shield his eyes from the bright light, but nothing happened. Through the haze he dimly realized that he was bound and gagged, the feel of many ropes biting into his skin when he tested them. The gag tasted faintly of blood and the sickeningly sweet underlying flavor of fabric softener meant to smell like a spring meadow. Instead of flowers he tasted the chemical components themselves, cheap and caustic, causing him to gag momentarily.

Fear slammed into him, compounded by the realization that he couldn't feel his heart pounding with what should be ever growing force as the panic rose. Trying again to open his eyes, he blinked rapidly, bringing his surroundings into focus. He appeared to be tied to an old metal chair in a dank basement, a single overhead light burning over his head.

All at once the memories came slamming into him, talking to Elena in her kitchen, no... not Elena... Katherine! Eyes wide, he struggled to look everywhere at once, muffled sobs coming from around the gag stuffed into his mouth.

"Looking for me?" Katherine's voice came from behind, and John struggled to turn and look at her, thwarted by his position. Coming around to face him, she dragged over another chair, sitting before him with a ladylike posture. "I'll take off the gag if you promise to behave." She offered, "But if you're a bad boy... I'll have to punish you." Katherine's eyes were alight at that possibility, as though she dared him to test her.

John nodded, eyes riveted to her face. A face so like his own daughter's, it was eerie.

A knife appeared in her hands, so quickly he couldn't track exactly where she'd produced it from and he flinched as she brought it to his face, deftly slicing away the gag and discarding it. "There now, that's better isn't it?" She smiled pleasantly, keeping the blade in her hand but returning to her demure pose.

A quick nod was given, John swallowed but couldn't get past the dry ache in his throat. He could have easily drunk a gallon of water in that instant. "Why..." He croaked out, his voice raspy with disuse.

"Why didn't I kill you?" Katherine's gaze dropped to the knife in her hands, turning the blade over and over with her fingers. "Oh I was going to kill you, right up until the moment I plunged the knife into your body." A smile curved her lips at the memory. "Until it struck me, why kill you just once when I can do something far worse? Especially after you went through the trouble of telling me just how much you hate vampires." Looking up, she caught his stricken gaze, her dark eyes drinking in his growing horror.

Up until that moment, John had simply assumed that she'd replaced the ring on his finger, keeping him from dying in the kitchen, the better to torture him with later. But at seeing her expression, it dawned on him that she'd done something far worse indeed. He struggled to bring his hands into view but there was no sign of the ring on what was left of his fingers. With a sickening realization, he found that the steady plodding noise was the slow drip of blood from his severed fingers, echoing in his oversensitive ears. The wound was pink with healing flesh but still missing the fingers all the same. "What did you do?" He gasped.

"You know. You can already feel it changing you, can't you?" She rose from the chair, a self satisfied smirk on her lips.

"Wait... you can't leave me like this."

"I can do anything I want to baby." Katherine stopped near the stairs, turning back to face him. "I can leave you down here where no one will ever find you till you turn into a lifeless husk. I can send Isabelle down to finish you off, she might like that." She pretended to think it over. "Or maybe... I'll bring you a little bit of company? Would you like a playmate? Someone to keep you occupied when the thirst grows so strong that you tear your own arms out of their sockets to break free and feed? What about your dear daughter...? She'd do nicely I think. Kill two birds with one stone..."

John's eyes bulged, each option more appalling than the last. But when she mentioned Elena... "No... don't drag her into this, just kill me, torture me if you want..."

"You can count on torture, John." She promised, ascending the stairs without so much as a backwards glance.

Stefan knelt in the loamy earth, pants soaked through at the knees with blood and worse as he struggled to gain control of himself. It felt as if he'd been hunting for hours, but each new kill brought only a moment's satisfaction...

The churning, burning lust for blood returned each time almost immediately after only the smallest taste of his prey; driving him forth to go after something bigger, stronger. As he brought down the buck, even as its hot lifeblood surged forth, there was a feeling of disappointment edged with panic... what if this hunger never went away?

Shoving the dying animal away with disgust, Stefan staggered to his feet, swiping absently at his mouth and leaving a long smear of blood unnoticed on his sleeve. Unsure where he was really heading, one foot fell in front of the other as he followed his instincts. Driven by urges he couldn't explain, he gave free reign to the predator within.

Blinking with surprise when he came upon the edge of the woods, he stood by the side of the roadway. What was he doing there? He hardly remembered traveling that far, it seemed just a moment ago that he'd left the carcass of the deer behind. The lost time gave him a vague feeling of unease, but he was distracted by the appearance of headlights in the distance.

His foot moved a step further into the road, and then another as he strained to see the approaching vehicle through the swirling fog, without making the connection that there might be any danger to him. The car, spotting him at the last moment in the darkness, swerved to avoid him, spinning 360 degrees with a squeal of rubber as it came to a rocking halt in the middle of the road, stalling there.

Stefan stared at the car as if he were in a daze, had he really almost caused a horrific car crash just because he wasn't paying attention? What was wrong with him? There was no movement from the driver's seat at first but in a few moments the door opened slowly, a well tanned leg finding purchase on the pavement. A slender blonde soon followed suit, one hand at her left temple, the other bracing herself against the car as she alighted.

Instantly at her side, Stefan searched her critically for any sign of injury but she just seemed to be a little shaken up. "Are you alright?" He asked with genuine concern, taking her elbow and leading her into the path of the car's headlights to examine her better.

"Y-yeah, I think so..." She replied in a quavering voice. "I'm so sorry, I didn't see you at all and... Oh my god, are you bleeding? Did I hit you?" Pretty blue eyes widened as she spotted the blood smeared across his jaw and on his sleeve.

"No, no I'm fine." Stefan assured her quickly, discomfort slicing through him as he realized what he must look like at that moment. "I should have been more careful, I just wasn't expecting anyone at this hour. Are you sure you're not hurt?"

Relief surged through her when he maintained he was alright, still a little too shaken to question why he was smeared with blood if he wasn't injured. "Yeah, I just hit my head on the window, but I think it's ok." The hand at her temple dropped, revealing a good sized bump, a trickle of blood appearing without her hand providing pressure against the wound.

Stefan stiffened as he spotted the blood, his senses instantly going into overdrive. All of a sudden all he could see was the bright crimson beacon, all he could smell was the sweet copper scent of her blood, tantalizing him.

"What is it? What's wrong? Are you sure you're ok?" The blonde asked him, noticing the intent stare on his face. This was all she needed, her father was gonna kill her if she ran down some guy in the middle of nowhere and had to put in a claim on her insurance; he was already ticked off about the three speeding tickets she'd gotten this year so far.

She was saying something, but the words didn't register. All he could hear was the thudding of her pulse, mocking him, driving him to take a step closer to her.

"What are you..." Her voice seemed loud to her ears in the silence, there wasn't any sign of life nearby. It suddenly occurred to her that perhaps she should be worried for another reason.

In the blink of an eye Stefan had trapped her with his body against the car, his eyes changing, fangs descending with that sweet shift of bone that felt disturbingly good. Though he had no need for it, his body drew in labored breaths, his chest heaving as he struggled against the beast within. The girl whimpered in his arms, the sound at once piteous and inflaming, drawing him in two directions at once. Unable to resist, his hand closed around her throat, holding her still.

As she watched with wide eyes, he leaned down and lapped at the wound on her forehead with a broad stroke of his tongue, a soft moan escaping his lips as the taste of human blood hit his senses. This was what he'd been craving all night, no wonder the animal blood had paled in comparison. It was like eating filet mignon after a steady diet of cafeteria food.

He wanted to devour her. It would be so easy. All he needed to do was get rid of the body and abandon the car somewhere, the woods were full of secrets in these parts, what was one more?

The blonde struggled under his vice-like grip and he fairly shook with need, teeth inching closer to the pulse at her throat... grazing against the delicate skin there... just a tiny fraction more and it would be over...

At the last moment Stefan released her throat, hand creasing the metal of the hood with the effort. He swallowed, his voice thick with warning, "Run..."

*** Feedback is love people **


	5. Frustrations

**A/N: You guys still with me? Ok back to some Damon/Elena, we'll try Elena's POV for a while, see how that goes.**

It felt like they were going frustratingly slow and Elena began to question if they might have made better time in a car. She'd seen him travel much, much faster in the past, and she had to wonder, was he drawing this out for some particular reason? If he was dragging this out so he could cop a feel… The uncharitable thought popped into her mind, but though Damon held her close, his hands were by no means placed anywhere inappropriate. Perhaps it was just her impatience to find Stefan keeping her on edge?

As they entered the woods, she amended that opinion as the trees whizzed by, proof that they were going plenty fast. She shifted in his arms, pressing her face to his neck to keep from getting dizzy. How did he manage it? How did he keep from running into stuff? A steady litany of questions ran through her mind as they headed to the Salvatore mansion.

Out of nowhere came the observation that Damon smelled… really nice. This was probably the closest she'd ever been to him, nestled gently in his arms, and even with the breeze generated by their swift progress she could smell the… whatever it was… it didn't quite seem like aftershave or cologne, for all she knew it was just… him. The thought made her feel uncomfortable, as though there was something wrong with finding him appealing in any way and she shifted slightly again.

"Can't you go any faster?" Elena complained near his ear.

Damon's smirk fell into place at the complaint. Was that her version of are we there yet? "I didn't want to risk your bones turning into a puddle of goo."

Elena winced at the image that particular response produced. "Eewh. Would that really happen?"

A shrug was given, "I don't really know, I don't make it a practice of toting around humans, but I'm pretty sure you don't want to be my guinea pig, do you?"

"I'll pass." Laying her head back down on his shoulder, she fell silent again, noticing that the feel of his cool skin against hers reminded her of Stefan.

Stefan.

She had to concentrate on finding him, everything else could wait until then. There had to be a way where all of this made sense, where Stefan wasn't the bad guy, where she hadn't given her love to a killer…

"You're thinking about it aren't you?" Damon asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Kinda hard not to. I keep thinking there's going to be some kind of rational explanation, that I'm just jumping to conclusions."

Damon snorted, a little perturbed that they weren't on the same wavelength at the moment. "No, not that."

"What then?" Elena lifted her head to try and catch his expression.

"That kiss." A self satisfied smirk remained fixed on his lips at the memory.

Elena's brow furrowed, "What are you talking about?"

Damon bristled, so that was how she wanted to play it? "So what are you five? You're just gonna pretend like it didn't happen because now you're worried about Stefan?" His voice was harsh, but his hold on her remained gentle.

For the life of her she couldn't figure out what the hell he was talking about, what kiss? Vaguely she remembered the brief press of lips to her forehead in her bedroom before he'd gone down to talk to Jenna. Was that what he was going on about? "Oh come on, it's not like it was that big of a deal…"

Stiffening at her words, Damon remained silent for a moment, his jaw clenched, though she had no idea why. "Yeah no, I know, it's nothing, right?" His voice was cold, remote. He said nothing more for the duration of the trip, depositing her gently on the porch and then turned his back, walking right past her into the house. Bracing herself on the doorjamb till she regained her balance, Elena watched him stalk towards the bar and poor himself a drink. What was his deal?

"Stefan?" She called out, moving towards the stairs.

"He's not here." Damon replied, from his stance by the bar.

"You don't know that…" Elena started up the stairs.

"Um hello… vampire hearing? He's not here, but knock yourself out." He saluted her with his drink.

Ignoring him, Elena went to check for herself, but true to his words, Stefan was nowhere to be found. As she came down the stairs, a prick of annoyance went through her at seeing Damon pour himself yet another drink. "Hey, I thought we're here to find Stefan, not so you can get blotto and pass out on the carpet."

"Trust me, I've been drinking far longer than you've been alive, I know what my limits are." To illustrate his point, he knocked back the glass with one swallow, but did not refill the glass.

"Where do you think he might have gone?" Elena began to pace agitatedly, her mind going back to that grisly scene in her kitchen.

"Oh, I don't know, let me think…" Damon's sarcasm was in full force as he made a show of considering the question. "I'm Stefan, I get everything I want handed to me on a silver platter, but I'm too broody to enjoy it… so I snap and rip the throat out of some innocent bystander in my girlfriend's kitchen…" he tapped a long finger to his lips, pondering, before an artificial look of enlightenment lit his face. "I'm probably out rescuing some orphans as an act of penance for my crimes."

"What's wrong with you? You've been acting…" Elena bit her tongue, come to think of it… he'd been acting just like his normal self. What had she been expecting? The sensitive, helpful Damon was the aberrant behavior, not the aloof, sarcastic one.

"What, Elena? I've been acting what?" Damon advanced on her, his eyes blazing. "I'm nothing but what you see. A selfish, manipulative, pale shadow of Saint Stefan, and that's all I'll ever be." His jaw worked as his teeth clenched tightly.

The breath caught in her throat at his rapid approach, and she was transfixed by the intensity of his gaze. Elena opened her mouth to what… offer words of comfort? He was those things to some degree, but she also knew he was capable of more, so much more if only he let himself do the right thing more often. "Damon…" Her hand reached up towards his face, but he took a step backwards, placing himself out of her reach.

The intense, dark look was gone, his mask firmly back in place. "Come on then, let's go track down our little lost lamb. Which one do you want to be, Cagney or Lacey?" His tone was glib as he pulled his jacket back on. "I kind of want to be Lacey if you don't mind."

Elena blinked at the rapid shift of behavior, unable to formulate a response for the moment. He was acting so hot and cold, even for him, ever since they'd gotten to the mansion… no… ever since that conversation on the way, about the kiss. Had she somehow wounded his pride for not swooning over the brief peck on the forehead?

He shot her a smirk. "The night's not getting any younger."

Drawn from her reverie, she nodded, moving to where he waited by the door, her expression troubled.

"Don't worry Elena, we'll find him." His voice softened as she approached, and she gave him a tremulous smile, wishing she could feel his confidence.

* * *

Only they didn't find him.

After hours of searching, they were no nearer to finding Stefan than when they'd started and Elena was nearing the exhaustion point. Stumbling across the threshold of the Salvatore place, her voice sounded hoarse to her ears as she called out again, "Stefan?" no longer having the strength to keep the hope alive in her voice that he'd be there.

"He's not here." Damon said quietly, at her side, shutting the door behind them. There was no trace of mockery in his voice now, just a certainty that she couldn't argue with this time.

Elena's shoulders sagged, eyes closing overlong for a blink, she swayed a little on her feet.

"Come and sit before you fall down," he guided her towards the couch, steering her gently by the shoulders.

"I should get home, it's nearly dawn and Jenna will wonder where I am."

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about it, Jenna's sleeping the sleep of the innocent, remember? I took care of it." He deposited her on the couch and sprawled beside her.

In a daze, Elena nodded, head lolling against the welcoming softness of the back of the couch. "He has to come back sometime, right?" She'd have her answers then, it would have to be enough.

"That's right, Angel." Damon's voice took on a slightly singsong quality, lulling her into relaxation. Unable to resist, one hand slipped to the nape of her neck, gently massaging the tired muscles there.

"Damon…don't…" she protested, even as a groan of relief issued from the back of her throat at the gentle contact.

"Shhhh, I'm just trying to make you feel better." He soothed.

"Yeah… I'll bet." She bit out sarcastically, eyes flicking to his, filled with suspicion.

"Just relax Elena, I'll keep you safe… even from me."

The pledge was given and god help her but she believed him, her eyes slipping shut. She felt both of his hands on her shoulders then, pleasure mingled with pain as he urged the tension from her body till she floated away, lost to dreams.

Damon kept her in that relaxed state, upright but pliant until he was certain she wouldn't startle awake, then he gently settled her down with her head resting on his lap. For a long time he just watched her sleep, listened to the steady breaths and the beat of her heart. Finally, unable to resist, he lightly stroked the contours of her face, so like his Katherine… but then again, she had never truly been _his_, had she?

Elena stirred slightly at the contact, "Mmm Stefan…" She breathed, face turning into that gentle touch.

He froze, trying not to blame her for that misconception, "Shhh, go back to sleep." Damon whispered, drawing in a sharp, unnecessary breath when she placed a soft kiss against his palm and then drifted off again.

This mere slip of a girl had power over him; more power than anyone had wielded in a century or more. The thought should have terrified him, especially considering the last time he'd found himself a prisoner of the heart. But Elena wasn't Katherine, of that he was certain. There would be no cruel game of pitting brother against brother, she just wasn't capable of it. If she wounded him, it wouldn't be out of spite, but she could wound him just the same.

The pre-dawn light was just starting to chase away the night sky when Elena's eyes popped open. Disoriented for a moment from lack of rest and waking in a strange place, it took her a moment to remember the events leading up to her being there. Looking up, she noted with faint amusement the sleepy, bewildered look on Damon's face as his head snapped up; it was rare to catch him in any kind of vulnerable state. Lips pursed to comment on it, she noticed his gaze sharpen, all traces of vulnerability wiped clean and she turned her own head to follow the direction of his stare.

"Stefan…"

**Feedback is love, people **


	6. Three's a Crowd

_The pre-dawn light was just starting to chase away the night sky when Elena's eyes popped open. Disoriented for a moment from lack of rest and waking in a strange place, it took her a moment to remember the events leading up to her being there. Looking up, she noted with faint amusement the sleepy, bewildered look on Damon's face as his head snapped up; it was rare to catch him in any kind of vulnerable state. Lips pursed to comment on it, she noticed his gaze sharpen, all traces of vulnerability wiped clean and she turned her own head to follow the direction of his stare. _

"_Stefan…"_

Stefan stood there, an inscrutable expression on his face at first, though Damon could see it the instant his face hardened into wounded anger. The attack came suddenly, Stefan's inarticulate cry of rage the only precursor. Even with Damon's preternatural reflexes, there was barely time to shove Elena out of harm's way before Stefan was on him, tumbling the couch with them onto the ground.

Elena had only the time to gasp in surprise, her brain only just recognizing the attack before she was flung aside, instantly swallowed by darkness as her head struck the hard floor. Unnoticed by the fighting brothers, she lay unmoving.

Damon absorbed the blow easily enough, the couch however wasn't as lucky. "Well, you killed the couch, now what?" He smirked, just what would Elena think of her precious boyfriend now?

Fueled by jealous rage, Damon's tone of voice only served to feed that fire and Stefan reacted without thinking; snapping off the leg of the couch, hand cocked to plunge it into Damon's chest. "You don't get to touch her!" He snarled.

Not about to just lie there and be staked, Damon's hand snaked out to close around Stefan's wrist, easily holding it there. "I think that's up to her, isn't it?" He pointed out dispassionately. "Why don't we ask Elena who she wants touching her?" He added with more confidence than he felt. Mostly he was just trying to provoke Stefan into doing something stupid, not that he needed the impetus at this point, Stefan was damaging his own case with this reckless behavior. He turned to see of what she thought of this new development and caught sight of her inert form lying a scant few feet from them. No longer content to toy with Stefan, he shoved him off and flew to Elena's side, lifting her head gently and lightly stroking her cheek. "Elena?" His voice was etched with concern when that drew no response.

Stefan knelt on the other side of her, hands itching to rip her out of his arms, but not wanting to hurt her in the process. "I told you to stay away from her." He muttered darkly.

"_You_ did this, you're the one who came in here going all WWE."

"Elena belongs to me!"

"She called _me_." The smugness in Damon's tone grew under that realization. "I guess it was only a matter of time before she figured it out." He added, gently setting Elena down, not liking that she stood between them when Stefan was so out of control. What the hell had he been up to that night anyway? He looked like shit. Still, Damon could not resist pushing him just a bit farther.

"Figured what out?" Stefan replied contemptuously, circling to find a clear path of attack.

"Which one of us is the better man, and which one of us is just a drink away from becoming a monster."

"Don't provoke me right now Damon, you might not like what you find."

Now that was the funniest thing he'd heard all day and Damon's mocking laughter spilled forth. "Ooh, is that just like the Incredible Hulk? I wouldn't like you when you're angry?" He fell back against the ruin of the couch, overcome with giggles.

"It's a warning." Stefan's voice was curiously devoid of emotion as he advanced on his brother.

"Please…" Damon scoffed. "Don't start something with me you're not prepared to finish. You're forgetting something baby brother, I'm stronger than you, faster than you, better looking than you…"

Stefan rushed forward, hand closing around Damon's throat with a predatory growl. Surprised at the strength of the assault, Damon fell back, trying to dislodge his brother's grip with little success.

"Stefan?" Elena's voice was disoriented as she sat up, hand going to her head.

Undeterred, Stefan pressed his attack, wholly focused on choking the life from his brother, for the moment oblivious of the notion that strangulation wasn't exactly the best way to kill a vampire.

"Stefan! What are you doing?" As the reality of the situation began to sink in, she watched with growing horror as Stefan strangled his brother. "Stefan? Let go of him, he's just trying to help."

His attention diverted, Stefan's face turned to regard Elena, dimly registering the pain in her features, the panic in her voice… as she pleaded for _Damon's _safety. He let go, stepping backwards, an almost confused look on his face as he struggled to bring himself under control. "Elena… I…"

"What is wrong with you? I have been going out of my mind looking everywhere for you. _We_… we have been looking everywhere for you and you show up crazed, covered in blood and start attacking your brother?"

Damon stumbled backwards, hand going to his throat, he coughed for good measure, watching the exchange between them. This was turning out better than he could have hoped for, he only wished he had some popcorn.

Stefan's brows drew together and he looked down at himself for the first time, seeing how he must appear to her, as an animal. Guilt washed over him and he took a step backwards, then another. "You're right. I shouldn't be around you right now, I shouldn't be around anyone right now."

"Wait, Stefan… I need to talk to you. About what happened tonight." Elena pursued him, needing answers more than she valued her own safety. Besides, Stefan would never hurt her, not knowingly anyway.

A look of panic crossed over Stefan's features at her request. "I can't…" he took another stumbling step towards the door.

Holy crap, had Saint Stefan actually cracked and killed someone in Elena's kitchen? Damon hadn't truly thought so before, but the way he was acting now…

"Stefan please…" Elena implored him. "I need you to make me understand. I need you to tell me it's all a misunderstanding; that everything is going to be okay." Eyes shiny with unshed tears, she reached for him.

"I can't." With a last tortured look, Stefan beat a hasty retreat, disappearing through the front door in a blur of speed.

Elena's face crumpled into tears as he as much as confirmed all of her worst fears and suspicions with that denial. All of a sudden Damon was there behind her, encircling her into his arms and cradling her to his chest. Too heartsick to offer any objection, she sank into his embrace, taking comfort in his solid form. The days events coupled with exhaustion were too much for her and she wept openly.

Never good with a woman's tears, Damon held her a little awkwardly at first, patting her back gently, he didn't venture any words for fear of setting her off again. Instead he was focused on the unfamiliar emotions welling beneath his breast. He should feel elation. Elena was in his arms and Stefan had royally screwed the pooch on this one, leaving her behind at the worst possible moment. Instead he felt… empathy; that had to be what this feeling was. Every sob that shook her narrow shoulders filled him with a sinking feeling of frustration; because more than anything he wanted to take away her pain and he had no clue how to do that. For someone who generally didn't worry about anyone but himself it was pure torture.

Once the storm of her emotions had subsided somewhat, Elena pulled back, swiping at her wet cheeks. "I don't know what to do." She admitted hollowly.

Damon reached up to capture an errant tear with his thumb, wishing he could wipe away her sadness as easily. "I do. You need to get some rest, no one can think straight after just a couple of hours sleep, not even me." He herded her towards the stairs. "You can take Stefan's room, something tells me he won't be back for a while."

Too tired to argue, Elena simply nodded, allowing him to lead her up the familiar way to Stefan's bedroom.

"Here we are…" Damon pushed open the door and walked her inside. "You should have everything you need, but just give a shout out if you need anything, glass of hot milk, teddy bear, lingerie…" He waggled his eyebrows at her outrageously, hoping to get a smile out of her and was rewarded with a faint tilt of the lips.

"Don't hold your breath." A trace of the old Elena was in her tone.

"I don't know about that, I can hold my breath an awful long time." He smirked.

Elena gave a soft chuckle at that and for just a moment, everything was ok again. She watched him turn to leave and called him back. "Damon?"

Damon paused at the doorway, if he had a heart it'd be skipping a beat just then. "Yeah?" He turned and swung those intense blue eyes at her.

"Thanks." She said simply.

The smile he gave her was different this time, no trace of sarcasm or his usual jaded perspective. "Anytime."

Elena undressed slowly, changing into one of Stefan's button up shirts that fell to mid thigh on her. Lying in his bed, dressed in his shirt, she could almost imagine she felt his arms around her, keeping her safe.

Almost.

But the doubts kept creeping in, placing sleep just out of reach. After tossing and turning in frustration, she rose and padded down the hallway towards Damon's room, tapping lightly on the door as she pushed it open. "Damon?"

Fast asleep, Damon sat up when he heard her voice, his face still befuddled with sleep. "What is it? What's wrong?" He replied, instantly assuming the worst.

Her eyes fell to his bare chest when the sheet slid down to his waist. "Oh ah… no, you said to come and get you if I needed anything… I shouldn't have disturbed you." She turned to leave.

"What do you need?" The smirk was back in his voice again at finding her in his room.

"I'm having trouble sleeping and I thought maybe…"

His brows raised at that one. "Well, climb on in here, I'll help you sleep." He pulled the covers back and patted the bed next to him.

"Nothing like that, I just…" Oh this had been a mistake! "My head is killing me and I thought you might have something…"

"Oh. Ok, gotcha." His brows drew together in disappointment and he gave a sigh, flipping back the rest of the covers and climbed out of bed, completely disregarding his state of undress.

"Oh god…" Elena's eyes widened at the sudden display of nudity, and she turned her back, cheeks flaming scarlet. "Put something on!" She hissed.

"What's the matter, have I offended your delicate sensibilities?" It wasn't as though she'd never seen a nude man before, he was painfully aware of the nights she'd spent in Stefan's bed. But maybe, just maybe, the sight of him affected her?

"This was a bad idea…" She headed for the door.

"Keep your shirt on." Damon sighed aloud, though he wouldn't have minded seeing her without it. "I'll put something on." He diverted to the bureau and tugged on a fresh pair of boxer briefs. "There, all respectable-like."

Not sure if she could trust that, Elena hesitated before turning, finding the sight of him in just his underwear still troubled her more than she would have liked. She watched with some confusion as he drew a bottle of scotch from a cabinet and poured out a drink, approaching her with it. "What's this?"

"Something for your headache." He pressed it into her hand. "Vampire household, we don't exactly store up on aspirin."

She sniffed it dubiously.

"It'll knock you right out, trust me. Here I'll even drink with you, if that makes you feel any better." Damon poured himself a glass as well.

Taking a deep breath, Elena swallowed, her face contorting as the burn of the alcohol hit her throat and stomach. Treating it like medicine rather than sipping it or turning this into a social thing, she closed her eyes and forced the rest of it down, gasping for air afterwards, she coughed and sputtered for a moment.

"Hey, that's twenty year old scotch." He frowned over her reaction to it, but drank his swiftly as well, welcoming the pleasant warmth it brought.

"Sorry, I'm not much of a drinker." Though once it was down she did feel a bit more warm and pleasantly fuzzy. "My head still hurts though."

"I can help with that." Damon picked up her hand and tugged her gently towards his bed.

A roll of the eyes was given, "Don't be a pig."

"I'm not trying to seduce you Elena, if I was I'd be doing that thing with my eyes, remember?" He smiled. "I can help you, I mean it. Come on… trust me. I won't take advantage of you unless you want me to." One hand went over his heart, the other continued its gentle pressure, urging her to his bed.

She was skeptical, but then again, he had proven himself trustworthy in the past… "I mean it Damon, no funny stuff." She maintained. So why did her heart start to speed up at the thought of climbing into his bed with the pair of them wearing next to nothing?

"I'll be on my best behavior." His smile was charming as he climbed into bed and patted the mattress beside him.

_Oh this was such a bad idea_… And yet Elena found herself climbing in beside him, pulling the covers up immediately, she lay there stiffly.

"God Elena, relax, I'm not gonna attack you." He chuckled, settling down beside her and picking her hand back up again.

"I know." She said in a small voice, "What _are _you gonna do?"

Damon probed around her hand for a moment, searching for the right spot and then applied a bit more pressure. "I'm getting rid of your headache. Pressure points, should help you in no time." He explained. "Try and take deeper breaths, ok? In… and out…" he drew in a long breath to illustrate.

Surprised, she did as he instructed, breathing with him deeply. "Where did you learn this?" She asked with interest.

He kept taking long breaths to help guide her, though he didn't need them. "I spent some time in China. You'd be surprised at some of the things you pick up if you live long enough." He said softly.

"Oh." He seemed to be constantly surprising her, making her revise her opinion of him. Already she was starting to relax beside him, the alcohol and the pressure point serving to help lull her to sleep, her discomfort at being in bed with him rapidly fading.

The reality of having Elena in his bed was not at all what he'd imagined. Instead of taking her into his arms as every fiber of his being was screaming for him to do, he treated her as if she were made of glass, for fear of spooking her. While she relaxed by his side, he remained tightly wound until her breathing became slow and steady, indicating that she'd fallen asleep. Only then did he release her hand, move a fraction closer to her soft warmth.

At the shift, Elena instinctively turned towards him, snuggling up to his chest. Damon drew his arms around her protectively, placing a light kiss to the top of her head. Unable to resist, one hand splayed over the small of her back, holding her close. The other hand rose up to brush an errant strand of hair from her cheek.

As she had on the couch, Elena stirred slightly, only this time a different name was on her lips. "Damon…?" She murmured, her voice husky with sleep.

"Shhh, go back to sleep Elena. I'll keep you safe." He whispered back. Swallowing thickly to keep from saying more, he placed another chaste kiss to her hair and closed his eyes, finding something rare and precious.

Peace.

* * *

**A/N: FYI, might be a little slower between updates, I'm deep in research for my next book and hope to begin writing soon, but I'll see what I can do because I am having a lot of fun with these guys. **


	7. Calm Before the Storm

**As usual, I don't own vampire diaries or any of the characters. **

**A/N: Ok so this chapter started getting away from me by the time I got close to fitting in everything from my intended outline I was already over 4500 words and not done yet. So I've decided to break it up a bit. I'm posting this part here and I'll post the rest when I get the ending done either tonight or tomorrow. **

Late morning sunlight filtered in through the wide wooden slats at the window by the time Elena slowly regained consciousness. For a moment, sleep fogged her mind, and she imagined herself to be in Stefan's bed, the events of the previous night forgotten. She gave a long, feline stretch, snuggling into his side, smiling to herself as she felt his arm cuddle around her protectively.

And then she remembered, she was in Damon's bed.

Her eyes flared open in momentary panic, easing almost immediately as she saw that he was still fast asleep, mouth open, lost to dreams. With fascination, she watched the slow rise and fall of his chest. When Stefan slept, it was like sleeping with a corpse, no hint of breath or movement beyond a sluggish reflex when prodded, he was for all intents and purposes, dead to the world until he rose. So why was it that Damon retained that vestige of humanity, when he considered himself to be much farther removed from humanity than his brother? Not in any great hurry to move, Elena watched him sleep, thinking about everything and nothing, noting in particular that Damon appeared far less jaded without that perpetual smirk on his lips. In this state he almost seemed… vulnerable.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you it's not polite to stare?" Damon's voice was lightly chiding, though he didn't open his eyes, or remove his arm from her back.

Elena felt her heart kick it up a notch at the unexpected comment, but smiled as she thought of her response. "Actually… my mother told me some very interesting things come to think of it." She replied, referring to Isobel, not her adoptive mother. Things that she had started to wonder about given the way things had started to play out.

Damon cracked open one eye and then the other, staring up at the ceiling. "Eh, my mother once told me 'if you can't be good, be careful', so much for motherly advice." He gave a careless shrug.

"That seems like a strange bit of advice to give your son." Elena's brows knit together in puzzlement.

"My mother was… a singular woman." His eyes took on a faraway cast.

His mother. She knew virtually nothing about the woman, "Stefan never really mentioned her."

"I'd be surprised if he had, I don't think he remembers her very much, she died a long time ago, well before we were turned." His voice was somber, not quite a whisper, but low and intimate, suitable for pillow talk.

"What was she like?" Elena rested her head back on the pillow of his shoulder again without thinking much about it.

"She was… beautiful of course, that goes without saying. No rich landowner worth his salt would have anything other than an elegant ornament on his arm." His voice twisted with a note of bitterness at that before he continued, his father's views on women were very much a product of his time as well as his views on children. "But she was more than that. She was warm and caring and smart as a whip. She always knew when we'd done something mischievous and she always knew when I was to blame no matter how cleverly I tried to hide my tracks." Damon found his smile again at that last.

Elena's lips curved in response, trying to imagine them as little boys, getting into all manner of trouble in the big house. "You were a real little devil, huh?"

"Let's just say I was no stranger to the switch in the early days, before I got better at covering my tracks anyway." He chuckled.

"Your mother whipped you?" Her eyes flew wide, scandalized at the notion.

"No, discipline was left to my father. You know the old saying 'spare the rod and spoil the child'? Well Daddy dearest didn't want to be accused of spoiling us, so he made damn sure we learned our lessons well. And I was the oldest, so I set the example."

Beneath the blanket, her hand sought out his, covering it. "I'm sorry."

Something passed over his face at that touch, but it was quickly masked. "How's your head?" He asked, changing the subject.

Elena raised her head a bit, testing it out, wincing as the dull pain returned now that she was thinking about it. "It's ok, not great, still a little foggy, or like my head is stuffed with sawdust. I'm not so sure of the wisdom in taking alcohol to help with a headache if it makes you wake up with one."

"It got you to sleep didn't it?"

"I guess so." She replied softly, but more than the alcohol, it had been his soothing presence that had helped her relax enough to fall asleep. Of course now she was practically wrapped around him, pressed up against his body for no real reason other than that she'd woken up that way and never moved away. Realizing just what kind of message that must be giving him, she started to draw away. "I should go…"

Damon's hand deftly caught hers, holding her gently but firmly in place. "Some place you have to be?" He asked mildly.

"No, I guess not…" It being the weekend, she didn't have to rush off to school, Jenna would be off doing her normal routine and it wasn't exactly like Jeremy was talking to her at the moment. Still… the boundaries of friendship between them were definitely starting to blur and she wasn't sure she wanted anything to change just yet, if ever. "Damon…" She began.

His expression shifted in reaction to hers and Damon released her hand without a word. Disengaging himself from her, he sat up on the edge of the bed, facing away from her.

Elena frowned at the sudden withdrawal, but she hardly knew what to say. She stared at the broad muscles of his back, fighting for the right words to bring back that easy, comfortable feeling again.

"You go shower, I'll see what I can rustle up for you to eat." He said briskly. Without waiting for a response, he stalked to the door, still wearing just his underwear and slipped out.

*** back from commercial break***

It was maddening to have her so near. After less than one night, his bed positively reeked of her sweet, innocent scent. Part of him was ready for her to go home, maybe then he'd be able to think straight again. But part of him… the part that was currently in control, never wanted to let her go.

The sound of the shower came on above and Damon firmly pushed away the image of her standing under the spray of steamy water, instead focusing on preparing something edible for breakfast. Though they could eat, and he did get the odd craving every now and again, by and large he stuck to a liquid diet and his options were sparse. Luckily it appeared that Stefan had kept around some staples, perhaps in anticipation of Elena's frequent visits. By the time the shower had turned off, he was ascending the stairs with a carefully balanced tray laden with every breakfast type food he could find, and a single blood red rose in a crystal bud vase.

Intending on leaving the tray in Stefan's room for her, Damon was arrested by the sight of Elena stepping out of the shower through the connecting bathroom door that had been left slightly ajar. Transfixed, he stared at the way the droplets of water ran over her supple skin, originating from her long dark hair, to disappear beneath the curves and hollows of her lithe form.

Elena caught up a towel and pressed it to her face and neck, only spotting him once she'd dropped it lower to dry off her arms; she let out a shriek, wrapping it hastily around her body. "Damon! What the hell do you think you're doing?" She demanded, advancing on him, her eyes blazing with a heady combination of anger and embarrassment.

Damon blinked at being torn from such a lovely sight by this hellion, no less lovely in her wrath. "You left the door open." He returned in an accusatory tone.

"And that makes it ok?"

"I'm a guy, do you honestly expect me to turn down a free sample?"

"I was _not_ giving you a free sample." She bit out.

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to say you're sorry."

He snorted at that, "I'm _not_ sorry…" He muttered before just the tiniest bit of guilt crept in at seeing how upset she was. He tried to mollify her a little, "Oh come on, it's not that bad, it's not like I was perched outside your bedroom window with a pair of binoculars.

"Watching someone without permission, whether it was premeditated or not is still doing something bad."

"Didn't I have permission?" He raised a brow at that.

Elena gave an inelegant snort. "What on earth made you think I wanted you to spy on me in the shower?"

He gave a one sided shrug, she'd been the one to leave the door ajar. "Your lips may say no but your eyes say yes." He grinned, taking a step closer.

A roll of the eyes was given. "Has that line worked for you since the death of disco?"

"Ouch, there's my girl." His grin grew a little wider, thoroughly enjoying this argument.

Not sharing the same amusement, she took a step closer to him as well, not wanting to let him intimidate her with his presence. "Let me simple this up. What do my eyes tell you right now?" She fixed him with a pointed look.

Damon closed the remaining distance between them, gazing deeply into her eyes. "They're telling me plenty." His grin was predatory, refusing to let her completely off the hook.

Elena was the first to drop her gaze, flushing with a combination of anger and like it or not, attraction followed by a quick side of guilt. She should not be there having this conversation with him with nothing between them but a towel…

Taking a deep, steadying breath, she looked up at him again, her eyes pleading. "Damon, you can't…"

"Look I'm trying ok?" He interrupted her, not in the mood for a 'lets be friends' speech. "I'm more of a 'if it feels good do it' kind of guy. I'm not used to this respecting boundaries stuff." His face wrinkled with distaste.

"Try harder." Elena returned, the corner of her mouth twitching into an almost smile at his expression.

"I will, scout's honor." Damon held up his fingers in a passable attempt at the boy scout sigil.

It was hard to hang onto her anger with that little boy with his hand caught in the cookie jar look, and she decided it would just be easier to let it go for now. "I need to get dressed now." She sighed.

"Go right ahead, who's stopping you?" The smirk was back in place again.

"Out!" Elena laughed, pushing against his abdomen, she backed him to the door and shut it firmly behind him with a shake of the head. With friends like Damon, who needed enemies?

**Feedback is love people **


	8. Revelations

**A/N: Sadly I do not own Vampire Diaries or any of the canon characters. **

**Thanks for the feedback guys. I do hope to keep this going all summer until either the show comes back or the ideas run out. **

Elena dressed swiftly, half expecting Damon to come barging in at any moment. Replacing her jewelry, she picked up her cell, only then noticing the eight missed calls and multiple text messages. Crap… when had she put it on vibrate?

Scrolling through the texts first, her heart started to pound as she saw they were all from Jenna, each one sounding more agitated than the one before, all demanding to know where she was and pleading for her to call home immediately. Dialing her voicemail, she listened with growing dread to Jenna's panicked voice on the line, _something was wrong with Jeremy… she should go to the hospital… where was she? _Nearly unintelligible crying, asking her to call… something she couldn't quite make out about Jeremy. And then Alaric's voice, calm and steady. Telling her they were back from the hospital and she should get home as soon as she got the message. Oh god… what had happened to Jeremy?

Snatching up her jacket, she fairly flew out of the bedroom, "Damon!" She cried, nearly crashing into him in the hallway as he was there in an instant.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Instantly serious, he searched her face, not liking the distress he found there.

"I need you to get me home right now, I mean like _right now_, as fast as you can. There's been some kind of… I don't know, accident. Something to do with Jeremy, I need to get home."

"Yeah of course." This time he didn't draw out the trip, but whisked her home as fast as he thought she could take, depositing her on her porch and holding her steady while she regained her balance.

Elena's head was spinning by the time she realized she was already home on her porch. She clung to Damon, waiting for the dizziness and nausea to pass. He was definitely right, last time had been fast enough, vampire speed wasn't something she wanted to experience at full tilt. As soon as she was able, she let go of him, pushing open the door. "Jenna?" She called out from the base of the stairwell, not sure if she should be heading to the living room or up the stairs.

"She's resting." Alaric came from the kitchen, his face somber.

"Resting?" In the middle of the day? "What happened? What's wrong?" Elena could feel her pulse racing, adrenaline still coursing after the quick trip there.

"Maybe you should come and have a seat." Alaric tried to steer her towards the sofa, but Elena shook him off.

"Just tell me, what happened?" She demanded, knowing that whatever it was… it couldn't be good, not from the look on his face.

Alaric let out a long sigh, looking between Damon and Elena. How did someone just come right out and say something like this? "Jeremy overdosed on pain pills last night."

Pain pills? Where the hell had he gotten pain pills? She was gonna kill him for doing something so stupid… "So he's in the hospital then? Is that why Jenna is so upset?" It made sense, he probably had a close call and Jenna felt responsible for him…

"No, Elena…" Alaric gave Damon a helpless look.

"He didn't make it." Damon finished for him.

"What?" It was as though the words just weren't registering with her brain for some reason. She knew what they were saying, but she just couldn't accept it. Jeremy couldn't be gone, he just couldn't…

"Elena…" Damon placed his hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it away angrily, not able to bear being touched for the moment.

"No… he can't be gone…" And she hadn't been there for him. She'd been too wrapped up in her own crap to worry about him, hell she'd even… "Oh god… I checked on him last night and he didn't even move… I should have known…" It felt like someone had punched her in the stomach, all the breath had left her body and she started to get lightheaded.

"It's not your fault." Ric responded immediately, "You couldn't have known."

"But I _should_ have, he was so still and all I could think was thank god, he won't suspect anything." Elena sobbed, the tears falling in earnest now.

Damon's expression was unreadable, his thoughts going back to the last conversation he'd had with Jeremy. Distracted, he moved to sit down on the couch.

Getting no help from Damon, Alaric did his best to offer comfort to Elena, patting her awkwardly on her back but she drew away. "I'm gonna go see Jenna, she in her room? She was already headed for the stairs.

"Yeah, she might not make a whole lot of sense, the doc at the hospital gave her a little something to calm her down." Ric added. Once she was gone, he turned to Damon, dropping his voice. "Hey…"

Damon looked up, having forgotten that Ric was still there. "What?"

A little taken aback by the abrupt manner, Ric shook it off, it wasn't like Damon was the most compassionate guy to begin with… "So… I found this in the kid's bathroom next to the bottle of pills. I snatched it before the EMT's showed up." He handed over the small glass vial, traces of a red viscous substance still along the bottom.

He didn't really have to open it to tell what it was, but Damon did so anyway, the scent flaring his nostrils as soon as it hit… vampire blood. "Huh. I wasn't expecting that." He commented, capping the bottle and slipping it into his pocket.

Alaric watched him intently, wondering if his supposition was correct. "So you think that he's…"

"Looks like it…"

"So we can't just leave him…"

"No, that might make for an awkward night shift down at the old morgue." Damon smirked. "We have some time though…"

"They pronounced him dead, if the body just goes missing…" They were both following the conversation of half sentences, their thoughts running along the same lines. If either of them had been told that they made a good team, they would have denied it.

"I'll take care of it, as soon as it's dark, it'll be easier the less people are around."

Alaric fixed him with a skeptical look. How was he going to just waltz out of the morgue with a body?

"I'll take care of it." Damon insisted, with a look that intimated that it would be a piece of cake for him.

*** back from commercial break***

She'd been up there a long time.

Damon could hear the people upstairs if he concentrated, Jenna's deep, regular breathing seeming to indicate that she was fast asleep. Elena's sobs had gradually quieted to an occasional sniffle and then her own moody silence, but the occasional shuffle of her feet told him that she hadn't fallen asleep as well.

All the waiting around was starting to get on his nerves. Alaric had adjourned to the study to take care of some work. Left for too long with the company of his own thoughts, he had been unsatisfied with the path they were taking, too often leading him to wonder if he'd had a hand in Jeremy's decision to chuck the human condition for the hopes of darker pastures.

He'd thought she would come back down and they could talk about the new development with Jeremy but she didn't show any signs of emerging. Not one to wallow in introspection overlong, Damon found himself ascending the stairs in search of Elena, wondering if she'd gotten over her initial bout of guilt and was feeling a bit more rational now. He found her sitting in the corner of Jenna's room by the window, staring sightlessly into space. He shuffled his feet deliberately, not wanting to intrude but announcing his presence all the same.

"Hey." Elena responded softly without turning at first, but then she swung those dark eyes at him, heavy with pain.

He could almost feel the guilt pouring off of her in waves. Unaccustomed to the emotion, he wasn't quite sure what to do with it, but it broke his heart to see her suffering like that. "I ah…" He darted a look to Jenna's sleeping form. "We should talk."

Nodding, Elena left her perch, moving past him and into her bedroom where she took up a similar vantage point near her window. Tucking her hair behind her ears, she looked to him expectantly, not in the mood for chit chat.

Instantly he wanted to give her something, anything to make her smile again. Chocolate? Flowers? A puppy? What the hell did teen girls like again? He'd even get her some of that crap music they listened to these days if it would lighten her mood.

"So, I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first?" Damon shut her bedroom door and sat down on the edge of her bed. He'd never been in there during the day before and it struck him how many things there were about her that he didn't know.

"Does it matter?" Elena sighed. "Knowing there's both good and bad, kinda takes the cheer out of the good."

"Ok Miss the-glass-is-half-full, I'll start with the good. There's a chance that Jeremy _isn't_ dead." He waited for her reaction.

"That's not funny…"

"I didn't say it was."

"If you're screwing with me… so help me god…"

"Not exactly my idea of screwing…" He muttered, withdrawing the little glass vial. "Alaric found this in the bathroom."

Elena rose from her seat, taking the vial from his hands and holding it up to the light. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Yep." Damon smiled.

"So that's what he was trying to do…" She murmured, sitting down beside him on the bed in shock. "I don't understand… Why would he try to turn himself? And where would he even get vampire blood?"

"I think I might know…" His features twisted with an unfamiliar pang of guilt… so that was what that felt like…

"You gave him your blood!" Elena whirled on him, ready to rip off his head at the first indication that he'd done such a reckless thing without mentioning it to her.

"Whoa… easy… no, I didn't." He caught her wrists for fear she'd scratch his eyes out next. "I suspect it might be Anna's but I guess we won't know till we ask him. What I meant was…I spoke with Jeremy last night. He asked me some questions about what it's like to be a vampire. Particularly the part about turning off your emotions. He was pretty down about Anna's death."

Elena stared at him, digesting what it was he had to say. "So you went on about how great it is to be a vampire? Recruiting him to the club?" She asked, incredulously. Every time she started to trust him…

"No, I wasn't looking to add him to the family." He scowled in return at her lack of trust. "If I had been I would have turned him myself. It wasn't like that… if I had any idea he was considering it or even had the ability to consider it, I would have told you about it. I just figured… he was down because he'd just lost someone he loved."

"What were you even doing here?"

"I came to apologize." Damon sighed, letting go of her hands. "For Vickie, for the thing with his memory, he needed to know that was my idea, not yours."

Taken aback by his answer, she sat there quietly for a moment. "Still, you must have made it sound pretty good for him to choose that over life. I mean it's no secret how much you love being a vampire, how you pity us poor humans for having to wallow in our emotions. How much better it is to be able to switch them off like that." She snapped her fingers, not quite ready to let go of her anger, it was easier to have someone to blame.

"No, I told him it was easier that way, not better. I thought it should have been pretty obvious what path I thought was better, otherwise why would I allow myself to feel this way again?"

"Feel what way?"

"All of it. Pain, jealousy, heartache, betrayal, love…" At his last his gaze fell to her lips.

Isobel's words came back to her in that instant and she wondered not for the first time if there was any truth in them. Or was he just talking about Katherine? "Can you feel love after all this time?" She found herself asking.

"What about you? Feeling how you feel right now, would you turn it off if you could?" He asked her, ignoring the question for the moment.

"Of course not." Her answer was immediate. "If you cut out the pain you'd also be cutting out the joy. No heartache, no love… what's the point in living if you can't experience those things. You have to take the bad with the good."

"The pleasure with the pain?" His lips curved into a smile.

"Something like that." She found herself smiling back. "You must know that, like you said, why else would you have chosen to feel these things again? There must be a reason."

"There is one reason, yes." Damon reached up to tuck back a tendril of hair, stroking the curve of her ear in the process. She didn't pull away, her expression very like the one she'd worn on her porch the night before. Would she let him kiss her again? He leaned closer, giving her every opportunity to withdraw before his lips brushed against hers. The blood sang in his veins at the brief contact and he sought out more, tongue sweeping out to explore the dark secrets of her mouth. It was different this time, he could feel her trembling response, hear the way her heart quickened, taste her sweet breath mingling with his. The moment she truly accepted him, shifting closer to him and deepening the kiss made him feel more alive than he had in more than a hundred years.

It was everything he could have wanted. It was all wrong.

There were so many reasons why she shouldn't be doing this, especially with Damon of all people when things were so complicated between her and Stefan. Elena had ceased to think, for the moment she was operating purely on instinct. Her body seemed to recognize on some level that she wanted this, maybe for a while now, and she let herself experience the dark thrill of his kiss, made all the sweeter perhaps because it was forbidden. Ok maybe not forbidden, but probably a really bad idea.

Her hands slid up the smooth expanse of his chest to rest on his shoulders, even as she scooted a little closer… until Damon pushed her away, rising to his feet; a stricken expression on his face. Elena blinked at the sudden withdrawal, not quite sure what to think of it. Had she done something wrong? Was he having an attack of guilt? "Damon…I…"

"Shut up a minute, I'm thinking…" Damon replied distractedly, beginning to pace.

Her brows knit together in confusion at his tone of voice. What the hell was going on?

A steady stream of expletives left his lips and he tore her door open with enough force for the doorknob to punch a hole through her bedroom wall.

Elena chased after him as he stalked down to the first floor. "Damon…" She called after him, struggling to keep up, but he gave no sign that he heard her.

Damon headed straight for the kitchen, he stopped in the middle, an intense look of concentration on his face.

"What are you… what's wrong?" Elena demanded, starting to freak out a little at the way he was acting.

Completely ignoring her, he closed his eyes, inhaling long and deep, Damon walked slowly and unerringly to the counter where the block of knives was. His eyes popped open and he selected a long wicked looking blade, bringing it to his nose.

Katherine.

In a fit of anger he threw the knife at the back door where it stuck, twanging in the wood. Katherine. After all this time and he hadn't even known her, hadn't wanted to see what was right in front of his eyes. He raked his fingers through his carefully unkempt hair, falling back against the counter with laughter bordering on hysteria. "How could I be so stupid?"

Elena watched with growing unease as she tried to fathom what had him so upset. One minute he was kissing her and the next he was coming completely unglued. "Please Damon, you're scaring me." She pleaded for him to explain.

Oblivious to her upset, Damon was still dealing with his own inner turmoil. "I should have known. Instead I was too busy baring my soul and… Christ it wasn't even you." He groaned, sinking down to the floor, head in his hands. No wonder Elena had been acting so hot and cold, she had no idea about the kiss that had taken place on the porch the night before. What an idiot he'd been, he should have recognized another vampire on sight, especially the one who'd turned him.

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" Elena sank down beside him, she'd never seen him this upset before.

He looked over at her, his face stricken. Everything had to change now. If Katherine had even an inkling of what Elena meant to him… "It's Katherine. She was here, in your house. She's the one who stabbed… whoever's blood Jenna was cleaning up, and she's the one who I was… talking to on the porch last night."

Elena's eyes grew wide with shock, Katherine? After all this time? "But… how did she get inside?"

"Jenna invited her, demanded it really. She thought it was you, thought she was saving you from the big bad Damon…" He snorted, wasn't that ironic.

"Katherine… what does she want?"

"Whatever it is, it can't be good." He admitted. "Elena… maybe you should get out of town for a few days, take Jenna and take a road trip. Go down to Disneyland or something?"

"What about Jeremy? I can't just leave him, not now. He's going to have some… adjusting to go through. I can't just pick up and go. Is there any way to keep her out of the house?"

Damon shook his head. "Maybe… but we'd need a powerful witch."

"Bonnie!" Elena's face lit up with hope.

"She might be able to pull it off, she's kickin' the serious mojo these days." He brightened at the idea. "That's your best bet. Get Bonnie over here and see if she knows of a way to revoke the invitation." Damon pushed himself up to his feet, moving with a purpose to the study where Alaric sat poring over some papers at the desk.

"Hey, what's up?" Ric looked up at the interruption, noting the intent look on Damon's face.

"Something's come up, I need you to take care of that thing we talked about before."

"What?" Alaric blinked. "They won't release the body to me and I can't sneak him out of there the way you can." He dropped his voice as Elena appeared in the doorway.

"Man up and grow a pair, do I have to do everything?" Damon fixed him with a withering stare, his patience growing thin. "Tell them you're arranging for an old fashioned wake and you've been instructed by the family to bring him home. For god's sake just don't let them do an autopsy. Bring him to my place and I'll be back later."

Alaric bristled at his tone, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "What am I supposed to pick him up in, rent-a-hearse?"

"We'll figure it out." Elena interrupted, they'd think of something and the hospital would have to release the body to her. She was more concerned with what Damon had in mind. "Where are you going?" She frowned, he was leaving? Just like that? With everything going on?

Damon sighed, turning to face her. There was so much he wanted to say… but there was no time. Things would definitely get worse before they got better. "Goodbye Elena." He said softly, reaching up to stroke the contours of her face, committing them to a memory that was her and hers alone, untainted by Katherine. "Just remember, if you can't be good, be careful."

Elena stared back at him, unable to comprehend the look on his face, the regret and sadness and most of all, the goodbye that sounded so final. "We'll see you later at your place though, right? With Jeremy?"

"Yeah. You'll definitely see me." He replied in a grim tone before backing away from her, darting a look over to Alaric who watched them with interest. "Ok I gotta run, you're the Poppa Bear now." He pointed at him. "Take care of our girls." Flashing a peace sign, he was gone.

**Feedback is love people **


	9. Wheels In Motion

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters. This chapter is evolving into more of a series of shorter vignettes as multiple things are happening at once and I didn't feel like playing out every little thing (separated by a whoosh, whoosh, whoosh when the scene changes). Next update will follow more of the regular format I think. **

"Thanks so much for coming over so quickly." Elena gave Bonnie a grateful smile, stepping back to allow her to come right in.

"It's no problem." Bonnie's smile was perhaps a little strained, as it tended to be of late. "So… what's up?"

Not wanting to beat around the bush, Elena plunged right into it. "I need to know if you can put the barrier back up so that vampires can't enter the house, you know… to rescind the invitation?"

Bonnie's jaw dropped in surprise, immediately pulling Elena into a hug. "I'm so glad you asked! I have just the thing! Guaranteed to keep out vampires even if they've been invited in before. I've been waiting for you to come to your senses and I'm all ready to go." She grinned, hugging her tight.

Elena stiffened in the embrace, guessing the intent behind Bonnie's exuberance. "Bonnie…" She gently disengaged herself, pulling back. "This isn't about Damon or Stefan…"

Mouth tightening into a grim line, Bonnie's brows knit together. "What is this about then?"

"Katherine's back."

*** whoosh, whoosh, whoosh***

"Somebody! Anybody!" John's voice was raw from screaming and the burning thirst that was continuing to build as the clock ticked on. He had long since given up struggling with his bonds. Any enhanced strength he might have gained from his new abilities were hampered by the loss of blood. It literally felt as though his body was consuming itself now, and in a way it was true. Still going through the transition, without the supply of fresh blood his systems were shutting down, conserving energy. All sense of time had ceased to exist for him in the darkened room. He had no idea if it had been hours since Katherine's departure or mere minutes. For all he knew Elena could already be dead.

The thought was enough to propel him into movement again, and he struggled weakly against the ropes, doing his best to get some momentum going. A faint wobble from the bottom of his chair was his reward and he redoubled his efforts, sweating profusely as he managed to get enough force behind him to topple the chair to his side. A hysterical laugh bubbled forth at that small triumph before it turned hollow. What exactly had he gained?

Now he was on his side still tied up...

***whoosh, whoosh, whoosh***

Stefan awoke to a dull throbbing in his head, his tongue feeling thick and dry. He recognized it from the early days, a blood hangover. It came from binge drinking, too much too fast. Sitting up, he pinched the bridge of his nose, blinking at the bright morning sunlight that pierced the leafy canopy above. The woods. What the hell was he doing in the woods?

The previous night came back to him in snatches. Hunting beast after beast… the girl. With a groan, he pushed himself to his feet, not wanting to think about that. The sun was high in the sky, the day already starting to grow warm and he pulled out his cell phone to check the time. Frowning at what he found, he noted that he had several missed calls and two voicemails, predictably one of them was from Elena.

"_Stefan… I really need to talk to you. Can you please call me as soon as you get this? Things are… I don't want to get into it over the phone… just call me, ok? I really need you. Love you… bye."_

He frowned at that, she sounded upset… what wouldn't she want to tell him over the phone? Instantly his mind jumped to all manner of unpleasant conclusions, in particular Damon came to mind and his frown deepened into a scowl as he saw that the other voicemail was from his brother.

"_Hey, it's me. Look whenever you're done having your little sulk, get home, the shit's about to hit the fan so get over it. I… might be gone for a while, taking care of some things… so… put your white hat back on and ride in to the rescue like you do best, Elena needs you right now."_

Guilt rose, thick and cloying, blotting out all else. How could he have forgotten to take care of Elena? He should have known that Damon couldn't be relied upon to keep her safe and it looked like he was proven right. It would be just like his brother for him to turn tail and run just when things got difficult. Then again, he had to wonder… had something happened between the pair of them to send Damon heading for the hills?

He had to find her, protect her above all else. But first, he had to go back to the boarding house and change. If she saw him like this, it would just raise too many questions he wasn't prepared to answer. Like a flash he was off, a renewed sense of purpose driving him faster.

***whoosh, whoosh, whoosh***

"So… what's with you and Damon?" Alaric asked, keeping his eyes on the road. Bonnie had been left at the house to finish working on the spell to keep Katherine out, the still slumbering Jenna in her care.

"What do you mean?" Elena asked, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Now that they had taken care of business at the house and were on the road to the hospital to pick up Jeremy, her thoughts had returned to Damon and the kiss they'd shared. Was she that transparent that Ric could tell what she was thinking just by the look on her face?

God that kiss… what had she been thinking? She hadn't been thinking at all, that was the problem. Or was it? It hadn't been as she'd imagined a kiss from Damon would be at all. Not that she'd spent a whole lot of time imagining his kisses… but she supposed that she'd always thought that if he were to kiss her it would be more aggressive, stealing a kiss when she wasn't expecting it. Taking what he wanted. But the kiss hadn't been like that at all. The kiss was all give and no take, and it had utterly taken her by surprise, even more so when she'd found herself responding to it.

"I mean… what's with the crazy weird energy between the two of you? I mean I'm used to seeing that look on his face, but this is the first time I've seen it on yours." He darted a look over at her.

"What look?" Elena tried to laugh it off as an absurd notion.

"That look… the one that has no business being on your face when you look at your boyfriend's _brother_, let alone the fact that he's a despicable, lying, murderer."

Her cheeks instantly flushed with shame, but she found herself rising to Damon's defense. "He's not always like that! You know just as well as I do he's capable of doing the right thing."

"Yeah he's a real sweetheart." Alaric retorted. "But you and I both know, whatever he does… it's part of his own agenda. He only does the right thing when it serves his purposes, not because it's the right thing to do." He maintained, his voice grim.

"I know…" Elena whispered, her eyes on the road whizzing past.

***whoosh, whoosh, whoosh***

Stefan heard the light step on the stair and immediately knew who it was. In an instant he was down at the door, throwing it open. "Elena…" He sighed with relief, taking a step towards him.

Katherine took a fearful step back, her hands rising to stay his advance, her lower lip trembling with emotion. "Please… Stefan… we need to talk." She wrapped her arms around herself as if hugging herself for warmth.

It killed him to see her so hesitant around him, so miserable and not being able to take her into his arms. "Of course." He stepped back to allow her to pass, eyes drinking in her every move.

Moving past him, Katherine's eyes swept over the place with interest, looking for any clues as to what kind of men her boys had become.

"Can I get you anything?" Stefan's voice was low and solicitous.

"No, thanks." Katherine gave him a little mousy smile like she'd seen the girl do, tucking her hair back behind her ears. "I don't know if you've heard…" It was a vague statement, as much a fishing expedition as anything else.

"I got your calls… I'm sorry, I was… out of touch." He frowned.

Oh this was too easy… the guilt was all over his face, right there for the exploitation. "There's just been so much… you know?" She kept the details vague, leaving him to draw his own conclusions.

Stefan took a step towards her again but she retreated, resuming the dance.

"Don't… I just… I don't think I can do this anymore." A little catch in her voice, and Katherine dropped her gaze as if she couldn't bear to look at him a moment longer.

Stefan froze at her words, what color there was in his face draining at the words. "Elena… you're upset…" he began.

"Of course I'm upset!" She whirled, making her voice raw with emotion. "Too many people are dead, and it's all your fault!" Katherine sobbed, crumpling down onto the sofa nearby. An errant thought came to her, she hated these blue jeans that girls wore these days, a swoon was much more elegant when done with full skirts. But one worked with what one had.

A sharp intake of breath was given at the accusation and Stefan stared at her, in physical pain from the force of her words. Guilt assailed him and he dropped his gaze, knowing there was nothing he could say to counter her charge. It was true, if he'd never come back to Mystic Falls there would not have been so much death and destruction. He could only watch her suffer now, the knowledge that he didn't deserve her warring with the desire to go to her side and try to ease her pain.

When the storm of her weeping had passed, Katherine swiped at her cheeks, leveling the accusation at him with her dark eyes. "I don't know what I was thinking, some kind of romantic bullshit… thinking that your love for me made you a better person." She gave an ugly laugh.

"But that's true." Stefan seized upon the fact. "Loving you _has_ made me a better person."

"I could never love a monster, not with my whole heart." Katherine retorted bitterly. "Now I just feel… dirty… that I let a dead thing touch me…" She gave a shudder of revulsion, brushing past him towards the door. Her voice faltered dramatically as she paused by the door. "Don't come near me or what's left of my family any more."

**Feedback is love, people**


	10. It's Never Easy

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**. **So holy crap, there are over 175 people following this story! Thanks for the support guys, I'm having a blast writing for these characters. I can't wait for this show to get back on the air, anyone out there watching the reruns too? Sorry that it's been longer between updates, on the plus side the new book is coming along well, just over 25K words so far this week. **

Damon paused, gathering the stillness around him, he extended his senses. One by one he removed the external stimuli, the chirp of the birds, the soft chatter of voices in the house, the rustle of the wind through the trees, until it was just him in utter silence. Frustration tore through him as he found no sign of her, not even the barest scent that she'd been there, only the imprints of the people in Elena's house.

Somehow he had to pick up her trail.

He'd never tried to track her like this before. When they'd first been together, he'd been human; and not a terribly observant human at that. She had waltzed in and out of his life as she pleased, always in control, always the one to say goodbye, she'd always left him wanting more. Perhaps that was why she'd managed to burn herself into his blood, because he'd always had the feeling that there was something more to her, something just out of reach that if he could only catch it would show him her true self.

For years he'd been under the assumption that she was trapped beneath the church and he'd become obsessed with freeing her. When it had been revealed that she'd duped them all, Damon was self aware enough to realize that his ego was bruised more than anything else. Stefan's involvement with Katherine had been a thorn in his side, but he'd recognized it for what it was, her need to corrupt Stefan, make him want her. He'd never labored under the impression that Katherine had actually loved Stefan. He had however thought that she'd loved him in her own way and her disappearance all these years had rankled.

But now…? What did he feel for her now? A few months ago he could have readily answered that question, even a few weeks ago when he'd learned she was out there somewhere, deliberately apart. But now… He liked to think that he could remain strong against her influence, put the safety of Elena and her family above all else, but in all honesty… he had no idea.

Devoid of his usual means of tracking, Damon was forced to try deductive reasoning instead. Where would Katherine set up her center of power? There were any number of available properties in town that would do for her purposes, especially if she still had the ring. It would be smartest for her to pick someplace a little out of the way unless she wanted questions as to why _Elena Gilbert_ was setting up household somewhere else. An idea came to him then, but it seemed too simple. Still, what did he have to lose? Like a flash he was off, stopping just outside the property where lights blazed within even though it wasn't all that dark outside yet.

It was too easy. Damon's brows knit together in a frown as he stared at the sizable property. What would Katherine be doing at Isabelle's place, knowing that Damon had been there before? Isabelle had left town, her little goodbye scene with Elena had convinced him of that. So who was in her house if not Katherine?

Slowly he approached the house, taking great pains to keep quiet. There were definitely people moving in the house, but he couldn't quite tell who until he heard an exhausted call for help coming from the direction of the cellar and he recognized it as John's voice.

_What an asshat, he'd gotten what he deserved_, Damon smirked to himself. If ever a guy deserved to be tortured by vampires it was him, he was only sorry he hadn't been invited to the party. Fairly certain of who was inside the house now, he boldly strode up to the front door and rang the bell, affecting a casual stance but hating the way his palms had already started to sweat the moment she came into view.

She answered the door, no trace of surprise on her face as her lips curved into a smile. "Hello lover."

*** back from commercial***

"I think it's this way." Elena's voice was low and urgent, her heart thudding wildly in her chest as she led Alaric down the hall, following the overhead signs to the morgue. The idea of actually going into the morgue creeped her out, let alone touching a dead body, but she had to keep reminding herself that Jeremy wasn't dead. At least she hoped to god he wasn't, or this would all be for nothing.

"Relax, slow down a little, ok?" Alaric hissed at her side, tugging gently on her sleeve.

"Right, sorry." She flashed him a nervous smile.

"It's ok, I'm a little freaked out too." He gave her what she thought was supposed to be a reassuring look.

There was a desk barring the entry way to the morgue but nobody was manning it. "What are we supposed to do? Wait here or just go in?" She whispered.

"Let's just try and slip in, see if we can get in and out without seeing anyone, that'd be our best option." Alaric grabbed her elbow firmly and steered her around the desk."

"Hey… where do you think you two are going?" A voice called out behind them and they froze guiltily.

Elena turned and tried to make her expression as miserable as she could. "We're here to get my brother released, I was told he was brought down here already?" She replied to the man who was already moving back behind the desk, setting down the sandwich, soda and cake he was juggling in his arms. "You'll have to sign in here." He shoved the ledger towards them. "I'll have to call for the coroner, get all the forms ready. What was your brother's name?"

"Jeremy Gilbert." She replied, hastily scribbling her signature onto the log.

"Ok, I'll be right back." He promised, taking one sip of the soda before disappearing behind the double doors.

Elena drummed her fingers against the counter impatiently. After twenty minutes of waiting, even Alaric was starting to get antsy. "What could be taking so long?" She wondered aloud.

"I have no idea, maybe he's already started to wake up?"

"I thought that didn't happen till after dark?"

Alaric shrugged. "Don't ask me, this is all new to me." He muttered. "Maybe we should…" He left off as the doors swung open and a very nervous looking attendant beckoned to them.

"Ah Miss Gilbert? If you'll just come with me…" Without waiting for a reply he disappeared back through the doors, leaving them to follow.

Elena and Alaric traded looks and followed after him, moving through a long corridor that passed an open room that looked like the morgue itself, but the attendant led them past that to the Coroner's office. Once there the attendant beat a hasty retreat without another word.

The coroner was a balding little man wearing an open lab coat over a rumpled suit. Round spectacles were perched on his head just above his eyebrows as though he'd pushed them there and promptly forgotten about them. "Miss Gilbert, please do come in and have a seat." He greeted them with a tight lipped smile.

Elena did as she was told, waiting for Alaric to sit beside her. "You have some paperwork for us to fill out?"

"Ah no…" He looked acutely uncomfortable just then, as if he wasn't quite sure how to proceed. "Miss Gilbert, I'm afraid your brother's body has been… misplaced."

"You lost his body?" Her mouth dropped open in shock while her thoughts raced ahead as to what this might mean.

"I'm very sorry Miss, I can assure you we'll find your brother just as soon as we possibly can. It's possible he was sent up to another department by mistake but we will find him, rest assured of that." He replied confidently.

"I… I don't even know what to say." She stammered. That was true enough, and Alaric put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"You will call us, just as soon as you locate him?" Alaric spoke up. "We'll want to bring him home as soon as possible and there will be no autopsy performed."

"Well an autopsy is standard procedure for all deaths…"

"It's against our religious beliefs." Elena spoke up. "We already know how he died, we just want to put this all behind us and let him rest in peace."

"Ah… of course." The little man replied. "I'll need you to sign a release to that effect." He shuffled through some papers on his desk until he found the one he wanted.

"I'll sign whatever you want, I just want my brother home in time for the wake." She agreed.

The signing of papers was quickly done, he seemed eager to get them out of his office before it occurred to them to put in a complaint with the hospital administration. Soon enough Ric and Elena were out in the hall again, a slightly dazed look on her face as they stepped into the elevator.

"What do we do now? Go home and wait?" What would Jenna do if Jeremy showed up at the door?

"Probably. We should check on Bonnie's progress anyway and I'd like to get back to Jenna."

Elena's face softened as she looked over at him. "You really like her don't you?" She smiled gently.

"Yeah, I do. I hate that we're keeping this from her, but… it's probably safer for her if she stays in the dark." He sighed.

"Here's to hoping we come to a time when things get back to normal… well normal for us." If having a vampire for a boyfriend could be considered normal. With that thought Elena pulled out her cellphone again. She'd switched it off once entering the hospital per the posted signs, but now she turned it back on to see if she'd missed any calls. "Still nothing from Stefan." She frowned. God, what if he knew… somehow knew that she'd kissed Damon. Or had Damon run to him, gloating about it all the way? The idea wasn't outside of the realm of possibility even with everything going on.

Alaric said nothing, the less he was involved with that particular triangle the better as far as he was concerned.

They stepped out as the elevator doors opened, and looked up in surprise as she spied Matt in the waiting room in the same instant that she spotted her.

"Elena?" Matt was instantly on his feet, sweeping her into a crushing hug. "Oh thank god you're here. Can you believe something like this has happened?"

Elena hugged him back, a little surprised by the force of his hug, he seemed to be clinging to her as though she was a life raft. "No, I'm still kind of in shock actually." She replied, "The past twenty four hours have just been… crazy." That was an understatement.

"I keep thinking she's going to come out of it, open those baby blues and smile up at me but… the longer she's out…" He hung his head miserably.

It dawned on her that she had no idea what he was talking about, she'd assumed he meant Jeremy. "Who's going to come out of what?" She stared back at him blankly.

His head came up in surprise. "Caroline of course, isn't that why you're here?" It was his turn to stare at her blankly.

"I'll be right back." Alaric promised, moving to the information desk.

"No… my god, what happened to Caroline?"

"We were in a car wreck last night, on the way back from the Founder's Day celebration. Tyler… I don't know what happened but he freaked out, lost control and we crashed. We're both ok, but Caroline… she hasn't woken up since." He recounted miserably.

"Oh Matt… I'm so sorry." She enfolded him into a hug once more. "She'll be ok, I know it. She's too stubborn to give up this close to prom, right?" Elena gave him a hopeful smile.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He chuckled, shaking his head. "So, if you weren't here about Caroline, why are you here?" He wondered belatedly.

Elena took a deep breath. "Jeremy, he committed suicide last night." She said, hating saying it out loud even if he wasn't really and truly gone.

Matt stared back at her in utter shock. "I… can't believe it. I thought he was doing better, wasn't he doing better?"

It hurt to talk about it, whether or not Jeremy had been trying to turn himself, he'd still given up on life. "He was for a little while, at least I thought he was… but he kept that part of himself hidden." She shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks with self recrimination. "I should have been there for him, I should have seen that he wasn't okay."

Matt held her tight again, rubbing her back soothingly. "It's not your fault Elena. It's nobody's fault but his. He took the easy way out."

How long they stood there she wasn't sure, but when Elena opened her eyes, she spotted Stefan watching them, a stricken look on his face. She made a move to let go of Matt but he was gone in an instant, and she started to doubt if he'd been there in the first place or if her mind had been playing tricks on her. She pulled away from Matt regardless, swiping at her cheeks with the back of her sleeve.

"I'll be ok. I should really get home to Jenna though, she's pretty torn up about it."

"Yeah ok. Call me later though if you want to talk, ok?" Matt gave her hand a squeeze before he let her go.

"I will." She promised, giving him a little wave before she headed over to where Alaric stood by the registration desk.

"Ready?" He asked gently.

"Yeah, let's get back before something else goes wrong."

*** back from commercial***

"It took you long enough to find me, you know how I hate waiting." Katherine smiled, stepping back to allow him to enter the house.

"Well you know what they say, turnabout is fair play. Especially since you've kept me waiting for… let's see now…" He made a show of checking his watch, "about a hundred and fifty years now." Damon smirked, moving deeper into the house, listening carefully to try and determine how many others were waiting in its depths.

"Don't be like that." She pouted prettily, shutting the door and leaning back against it. "Why don't you come over here and give me a kiss?"

"You honestly think that I still want to kiss you after you left me twisting in the wind all of these years?" He raised a single brow.

"Would it help if I pretended to be poor sweet Elena?" She smiled, affecting a soft, breathy voice.

His jaw tightened as he fought for control of his emotions. "Yeah about that, thanks for screwing that up for me, do you know how much work I put into setting that up? Hours of giving her those sad, tortured puppy dog looks, my little heart felt speech and then you stick your nose in and it wasn't even her? Way to ruin the moment…" He scowled.

Katherine's head canted to one side as she studied him carefully. "So you expect me to believe that the little tender moment I hijacked wasn't sincere? Come on Damon, you're good, but you're not that good." She scoffed.

In one swift movement he had her pinned against the door with his body. "You have no idea what I am anymore Katherine." He growled, hand pressing against the deceptively soft skin at her throat.

Unconcerned, Katherine smiled up at him sweetly. "I know everything about you. I made you." She all but purred, rubbing back against him.

"You've never seen me for what I truly am." Damon bit back, fighting desperately to keep from responding to her touch, but his traitorous body had other ideas. He pressed harder against her windpipe, knowing he was hurting her.

"Well finally." Katherine sighed, her lips curving into a satisfied smile despite the pain. "Somebody interesting."

**Feedback is love people **


	11. Welcome Home

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**. **Sorry that it's been longer between updates, I got hit by a nasty flu bug last weekend and it put me behind on all writing projects. On the plus side the new book is continuing to coming along well, just over 60K words so far. **

Jeremy had thought that dying would relieve him of all of his cares, remove all of his problems, simple things up that had gotten too complicated. Being a vampire was supposed to be this amazing, powerful, life altering thing. But all he could think about, as he stumbled into his kitchen, was that he felt like total dogshit.

Thank god they hadn't gotten to the point of stripping him out of his street clothes in the morgue, or it would have made for one hell of an uncomfortable walk home. His head was pounding, eyes watering from behind the dark glasses he'd stolen from the hospital gift shop for the walk back home through the fading daylight. Everything was sore, his arms and legs, his feet, his teeth, hell, even his _hair_ felt sore. What kind of bullshit was this? Where were the heightened senses? The strength and enhanced reflexes? If he'd wanted to feel like this, all he had to do was drink too much tequila on an empty stomach, and he wouldn't have had to die to do it.

Maybe he hadn't really died at all? The thought came to him as he caught his reflection in the microwave. Maybe he'd just passed out and they'd taken him to the wrong part of the hospital and accidentally shut him away in the cooler? If that was the case, they were going to have one hell of a lawsuit on their hands, he could have died in there without any air… But he hadn't.

A minute passed on the microwave timer and Jeremy held his breath. He'd never been able to hold his breath for shit before, and he'd taken a beating for it in gym class when he'd been roped into a game of water polo by Tyler. Not that Tyler needed a reason to lay into him, but it was a well known fact, Jeremy Gilbert just wasn't the athletic type. And that had been fine with him. More than fine. For years he'd been content to be on the outside of the "cool kid" clique, most of those guys were total assholes anyway, not the type of people he would have sought out as friends in the first place.

Another minute went by on the microwave timer. Jeremy's head tilted for a moment, his eyes closing halfway as he concentrated on listening for movement in the house. It sounded like there was someone moving around upstairs, maybe Elena or Jenna, it wasn't anyone heavy that was for sure. Maybe his hearing was a little sharper than normal, but it was hard to get a definitive answer.

Another minute went by on the microwave timer. His stomach growled uncomfortably, bringing a scowl to his lips. He was pretty sure that vampires didn't get rumbly tummies… in fact he was certain of it. The burning feeling in his stomach suddenly crystalized into a recognizable phenomenon.

He was starving.

It had been more than twenty-four hours since he'd eaten anything after all, and he moved from his spot in front of the microwave to open the fridge, standing in the open door while he scanned the contents with dissatisfaction. Nothing sounded good, even though he was painfully hungry now, nearly doubling over as another spasm went through him.

Another minute went by on the microwave timer. Finally his eyes lit upon a plastic wrapped package on the bottom shelf and he pulled it out, fingers digging reflexively into the thin plastic barrier to tear it open. The aroma was… incredible, and he instantly felt his mouth start to water at the sight of the raw meat. Thinly sliced strips of beef steak, all ready to go for stir-fry glistened appetizingly under the harsh kitchen light. Jenna was probably saving it for something, but he didn't care. Setting it on the counter, he retrieved a large frying pan from the cupboard and put it on the stove.

Another minute went by on the microwave timer. Jeremy turned the stove on high, not wanting to wait a minute longer than he needed to for the meat to be ready, but as he reached for the package of steak, he couldn't bring himself to throw it in the frying pan. His hand hung in the air, strips of raw meat dangling from between his fingers as they hovered over the pan that was now starting to smoke a little from the high heat.

Another minute went by on the microwave timer. A fat, red, droplet of blood gathered on the end of his finger, and Jeremy watched, fascinated, as it swelled to pregnant perfection before falling to hiss against the hot frying pan, disappearing. Unable to resist the impulse any longer, he crammed the gobbets of uncooked meat into his mouth, as fast as he could, his senses on overload as he tried to feed the fire that was burning in his belly. There wasn't any sense of revulsion like he would have thought there would be, only the sharp hunger that would not be abated, no matter how furiously he chewed and swallowed.

Only after the last of it was gone, his fingers sucked clean, did he stop to realize that he still wasn't breathing. And the hunger remained.

*** back from commercial***

"Sweet Jesus…" The empty glass of juice fell from Bonnie's nerveless fingers as she came upon Jeremy standing in the kitchen.

"No, just me." Jeremy smirked, moving to the sink to wash his hands, not wanting her to see the blood crusted under his fingernails.

"But you're… Elena said that you were dead!" She gasped, taking a step or two closer to him but then halting, her face clouding with suspicion.

"Well obviously I'm not." He scowled then, pressing a dishtowel to his face and then drying his hands.

"Have you talked to her? She's gonna want to see you, they went down to the hospital to get you I thought." Bonnie dug into her back pocket for her phone, pulling up Elena on speed dial.

"Sorry no. Contrary to popular belief, the world does not revolve around my sister." The scowl remained fixed on his face, she wasn't even really his sister, was she?

Bonnie's head came up in surprise, he'd always been moody before but this… "I'm just gonna give her a call. I'm ah… glad you're okay." She nodded, nervously, stepping out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Ugh, he couldn't get any peace and quiet in his own home. Case in point when the kitchen door opened, and Elena stood there on the back porch staring stupidly at him.

She stood at the kitchen door, face contorted with rage that was instantly replaced with one of surprise, her lips pursed speculatively as she stared at him across the threshold.

"Yeah… so?" Jeremy stared back at her, more than a little annoyed by the expression on her face. He hadn't forgiven her, not by a longshot and truth be told in his current mood he was just spoiling for a good argument.

"Jeremy…" Her head tilted to one side as she continued to study him. "You look, different. Special."

"Yeah, not being dead will do that for a guy." He returned sourly, about to turn away and head upstairs when something about her expression struck him as… off. Slowly he approached the rear door, watching her as she watched him. "Something wrong?"

"Several things actually." She replied simply, and did not elaborate further. "How are you feeling, Jer?"

"Pretty shitty Sis, thanks for asking." Something was definitely off. Why wasn't she coming in? And why was she staring at him like that? Operating on instinct, he closed his eyes, gathering the stillness around him, he extended his senses… and met a big fat nothing. His eyes popped open again, he should be able to hear something from her, shoudln't he? But she was completely and unnaturally still, no rise and fall of the chest, no shifting her stance, not blinking, swallowing, nothing. "You're not my sister… are you?" He breathed.

"Good call, you're smarter than you look." Katherine smirked. "Although technically she's not either, is she? Your sister I mean."

"You're that Katherine, the one I read about in Elena's diary, the one who turned the Salvatores." It was a statement, not a question. If it was true she was hundred of years old, and she could kill him with her pinky finger. Instead of repelling him, he moved a step closer to her, and then another.

"In the flesh." She confirmed with a sultry smile, running her hands over her curves and smoothing out her top.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, feeling emboldened by the barrier than kept her out of the house.

"What do you think I'm doing here?" She countered, leaning against the doorjamb, her face very close to his, with only the invisible wall and a few inches of air between them.

"I'd say…" He paused to think it over for a moment. "That you're here to kill Elena, or maybe just stick her someplace out of the way. Then you can take her place, maybe pit the Salvatore brothers against each other, whatever would cause the most chaos." It's what he would do if he was in her shoes.

"I'm impressed, that does sound like me." Katherine allowed, her hand moving across the invisible barrier, testing it almost like a tangible blockade for any weaknesses. "But you're completely off base."

"I am?" Jeremy scoffed, not sure if he could take her at her word. "You're not here for Elena?"

Katherine trained those dark, fathomless eyes upon him then, the hint of a smile tilting her lips. "Don't be silly, I'm here for you."

*** back from commercial break***

Elena ran up the front steps, not bothering to wait for Alaric to catch up with her. "Jeremy?" She called out as soon as she breached the front door. "Jer?"

Alaric had to jog to catch up, pausing just inside the doorway beside her. "I'm gonna go upstairs and check on Jenna, okay?"

"What? Yeah, of course, you go right ahead." She nodded distractedly, moving deeper into the house. "Bonnie? Jeremy? Where are you guys?"

"In here…" Came Jeremy's voice from the kitchen and Elena all but wept for joy at hearing his familiar voice.

"Jeremy, thank God you're here, we went to the hospital to get you but you'd already…" Elena froze in the kitchen doorway, unable to form a verbal response at what she found inside. Bonnie sat motionless at the kitchen table, a blank expression on her face with no sign of recognition that she'd noticed Elena's entrance. Jeremy stood by the sink looking pale but alive… and right next to Katherine.

"Hello Elena." Katherine smiled pleasantly, and Elena was struck with the strangest, most surreal feeling at finally being face to face with the woman who had started all of this so long ago.

"Jeremy… come here to me." Elena breathed, finally finding her voice, all she could think about was getting her brother away from her.

"I don't think so." Jeremy replied, his voice curiously devoid of emotion. "I think I'm right where I want to be."

Oh god… could this get any worse? "Whatever she told you, I promise it's a lie." Elena tried again.

"You know all about lies, don't you Sis? You've had plenty of practice lying to me all year long haven't you?" He spat out bitterly, and she could see the hurt behind his anger.

"Jer… you know I'm sorry about that, about a lot of things that happened this past year. But I'm still your sister, we're still a family and we need to stick together. Whatever deal she might have proposed might sound like a good plan, but you can't trust her."

"Which one do you want to be today, the pot or the kettle?" Katherine tilted her head to one side. "We both know you just want what's best for your little world Elena, and if anyone gets hurt in the process? Well that just wasn't your fault was it? It's never poor sweet Elena's fault." She added in a singsong voice.

"Stay out of this, it has nothing to do with you!" Elena's eyes flashed in anger.

"Ouch, I must have hit a nerve there don't you think Jer?" Katherine draped an arm casually around Jeremy's shoudlers.

"I'm not the one who's causing everyone pain." Elena retorted.

"No? Think about it Elena. Look at poor Bonnie there, and Caroline, what about all the pain she suffered at the hands of Damon? And Aunt Jenna upstairs drugged into a stupor because she can't handle everything that's going on. And Vicki, what about her? And then there's your dear dead parents, do I need to go on?" Katherine's eyes glittered cruelly.

"I didn't do anything to any of them!" Elena's eyes flew wide at the accusation, tears threatening.

"Oh but you did. If it wasn't for you the Salvatores wouldn't have set up shop here in town again, and none of this would have happened. Do you deny it?"

Elena stared back at her in shocked silence. Was she right? Was she truly to blame for all of this?

"Don't forget about Jeremy here." Katherine pressed her advantage, twisting the knife. "In so much pain, losing all the people he could count on, one after the other. But you couldn't see it could you? Didn't want to see it, you were too wrapped up in your own life until he was forced to take his own life."

"It wasn't like that. Jeremy you know that I love you, I've tried to get you to talk to me so many times, but you closed yourself off to me."

"Oh so now this is my fault?" Jeremy scoffed.

"She's twisting everything around, please… just think this through. You can't trust her, she just wants to break this family apart."

"You've already done that Elena." Jeremy returned coldly. "She doesn't treat me like a child, as if what I have to say doesn't matter."

"Jer, I don't think your opinion doesn't matter…" Elena tried to interrupt him but he plowed on.

"No, I'm sick of it Elena. Sick of all the secrets. She's going to help me, tell me everything I need to know about my new life. How to be powerful and strong, and best of all, how to make eveyrthing else go away."

Elena blanched, unable to process what he was saying for a moment. Jeremy was actually joining forces with Katherine? "Don't be stupid, you don't know what she's capable of." She took a step towards him, intending to rip her brother away from her bodily if she had to.

"You don't know what _I'm_ capable of." Jeremy growled reaching for Elena's throat as he shot forward, pinning her to the wall.

Her eyes flew wide and she scrabbled at his hand, trying to dislodge it and pull in a breath.

"That's a good boy." Katherine purred at Jeremy's side, her lips brushing light over his ear.

**Feedback is love people **


	12. Out of the Frying Pan

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**.

**Wow… I can hear crickets chirping over here. Only a few reviews this time (which I really, really appreciate the ones sent by the way!), so hopefully you guys are still with me and like this chapter better. ****In other news I have just finished the 1****st**** draft of my second book, so this will free up a lot more of my time for fanfic again.**

Damon needed to shower. With steel wool…

It was incredible to him just how crawly he felt from that brief contact with Katherine after pining after her for a hundred and fifty years or more. Had she really changed that much? Or had he?

It had taken all of his considerable charms to get out of that house without having to give it up for old times sake. In the end he'd had to essentially make a playdate for later with promises of all manner of sensual delights that he'd picked up during his years of the afterlife. Katherine had seemed intrigued by the idea, perhaps a little too much. Was he going to have to play _mistress of pain_ with her before the night was over? A shudder swept through him at the thought.

Luckily Katherine's attentions had been easily diverted by showing off her new toy, Jonathan Gilbert in the basement, and Damon had to admit, it did make him feel all warm and fuzzy to see him all trussed up like a christmas goose. From what he'd been able to gather, Katherine was keeping him on ice until some part of her master plan fell into place, but was tight on the actual details. She always had kept things close to the vest, but Damon had played it off as though it made no difference to him as long as he got to watch.

Through it all he was especially mindful of his broken promise to Elena to see to Jeremy's breakout from the hospitel, but he had to trust that she and Alaric would be able to take care of it for now and hopefully Stefan had gotten the message that she needed his help. Better that he let her down in this one small thing than to be responsible for making Elena suffer the wrath of Katherine's jealousy.

As soon as he'd been able to get away he'd practically flown back to his house, expecting to find Elena, Alaric and Jeremy already there, freaking out as usual over Jeremy's pending transformation, but when he'd arrived, there was nobody to greet him but the crickets. Not even Saint Stefan was about, and Damon assumed he was out brooding his way through another evening, or possibly ridding the viscinity of ferocious bunnies.

He didn't like this, not one bit. Damon's first instinct was to call Elena, see if everything was alright, but he kept hanging up the phone as soon as he'd pulled up her number, her picture staring back at him from the display. In the pic she was giving him that lopsided, messy smile, the one that she frequently had just upon waking, but in this instance came from one too many drinks on their one and only road trip. God that had been a blast. So refreshing to see the fun Elena, cutting loose and having a good time, not the worried frowny face she tended to wear lately. She was almost starting to be as bad as Stefan. Too bad he needed to stay the hell away from her to keep her safe…

Damon had just started to call Alaric for an update when instead he snapped the phone shut, shoving it away in his pocket. He wanted to see Elena and he was gonna see her god damn it! Convinced he could spin it in his favor if Katherine found out about the visit, he dashed off to Elena's house, going to the kitchen door where the lights were brightest.

Even before he made it to the door his spidey senses began to tingle, something was off inside that house. The kitchen door stood ajar and he could hear Elena's voice coming from inside. No, not Elena… Katherine.

Sick with dread, he rushed to the door, stunned when he met with a wall of resistance just as surely as if the entrance had been bricked up. Worse, he could have smashed through bricks. What the hell? It was almost as if… Damon's eyes fell to Bonnie who sat motionless inside the kitchen, staring ahead into space. That little… witch. She'd barred him from the house, not just Katherine!

All of this was processed in an instant, and Damon's gaze was riveted to where Jeremy had his sister pinned up against the wall, his hand on her windpipe, Katherine standing beside him, obviously egging him on. Instinctively he surged against the invisible barrier but it held firm; apart from receiving an invitation from a resident of the house, he was trapped outside.

With a great deal of effort, Damon brought his trademark smirk into play. "Am I missing out on family fun night?" He drawled, leaning casually against the doorframe.

Katherine turned, her dark eyes lighting up with surprise and then satisfaction. "Damon… how nice of you to drop by." Her lips curved into a smile. "Perfect timing as usual."

"I do my best." Damon grinned back, forcing himself to keep his gaze on Katherine, if he saw the look of terror in Elena's eyes he'd be lost. "You've been a busy little bee, I'd forgotten just how tough it was to keep up with you." He gave her that bit of flattery, gratified to see her preen a bit under the compliment.

"You have no idea." Her eyes glittered dangerously before turning back to Elena, obviously relishing the look in her eyes. "Aw, did you think that big strong Damon was gonna come to the rescue? You may look like me but you're not very bright are you sweetie?" She shook her head with mock sympathy. "Trust me, I've known him for a long, long time, and I know exactly what it is he sees in you… it's me."

Elena's eyes bulged, but Damon wasn't able to tell what she was thinking because Jeremy's hand was still wrapped around her throat, keeping her from getting enough air to speak.

"Ouch. You never did like to share, did you Katherine?" Damon smirked. "How about you get your boy there to let me in and we can get this party started?" He asked as nonchalantly as he could manage.

"We don't need you." Jeremy snarled, distracted by the exchange, he turned towards Damon a little and inadvertantly let up a little on his sister's neck, allowing her to suck in a greedy breath.

"Ah, ah, ah, don't speak to your elders that way." Katherine spoke to Jeremy as she would a puppy, barely sparing him a glance. "But no invitations are necessary, we're about to take this show on the road. I think it's about time for a family reunion, don't you?" She smiled at Elena, who looked back at her, utterly confused.

Damon could guess what she had in mind for Elena and it wasn't good. Good intentions or not, the longer he went without feeding the more Jonathan's resolve would crumble and it wouldn't matter if Elena was his daughter or not. He would feed to survive. Still keeping his gaze from Elena, Damon shifted his stance, trying to mask his impatience. Once they got outside he could make a move and free Elena but until then his hands were tied. "All we need is Stefan to make this a real party."

Katherine seized upon his comment with delight. "You're right, we _should_ get him into the game. Tell you what lover, why don't you go get your broody brother and bring him back to my place. But don't take too long, I can't wait to get this party started." She grinned wickedly.

This is just what he needed to buy him a little time, provided of course she did actually wait a decent interval of time to begin her entertainments. "Alright, but don't start the party without me. You know how I like a good show." He gave her a heated look, knowing it would trigger certain memories he'd been trying to forget.

"Oh I remember." Katherine all but purred. "Now scoot and let me take care of business. It's gonna be a long night."

Blowing her a kiss, Damon retreated into the darkness. He wasn't quite sure, but he thought that he could hear Elena's anguished cry at his departure, and he locked away that pain for later, for now he had to stay focused. Keeping the house well within his sights, he plotted how best to make his next move.

***back from commercial ***

Elena made a sound low in her throat as Damon departed without so much as a backwards glance for her. Could any of that have been true? Had it all been a lie? Was Damon truly that cold? She had thought… Tears slipped from her eyes and she wasn't sure if she was crying for his abandonment of her or her own stupidity for ever having trusted him in the first place.

How had everything gone so wrong so fast? Her eyes returned to Jeremy's face, so cold and devoid of emotion. It was like there was nothing left there of her brother, no spark of humanity. "Jer…" She tried to speak his name but all that served to do was draw his focus back to her and his grip tightened again.

Alaric strode into the kitchen, freezing in place as he took in the scene there. His eyes darkened as he spotted Katherine and perhaps a bit foolishly, he charged at her. Katherine deflected the charge easily, tossing him backwards with an almost negligent motion. Alaric crashed into the wall and Elena could hear the snap of bones breaking as he crumpled to the ground, unmoving.

"I'm getting tired of that man." Katherine frowned irritably. "Alright, let's get moving before someone else shows up. Oh for chrissakes Jeremy stop choking your sister, this won't be as much fun if you break her."

Jeremy let go of Elena, his hands dropping to his sides. Elena's hands flew to her neck as she drew in a shuddering breath, coughing and choking with the pain that bloomed from that simple motion. "You won't… get away…"

A roll of the eyes was given. "You aren't seriously trying to tell me that I won't get away with this are you?" Katherine scoffed, turning her back on the girl and moving over to the witch who still sat motionless, her face blank. "When are you gonna get it through your thick head? I do what I please, when and where I want." She smiled, stroking the hair back from Bonnie's face. Her hands twisted Bonnie's head in a sudden, sharp jerking motion, snapping the girl's neck and then tossing her to the ground in a heap, all the while her face maintained that soft, pleasant smile, the gleam in her eyes the only evidence that she'd just taken another life.

"Bonnie!" Elena croaked, falling to her knees as the tears spilled freely from her eyes. God this couldn't be happening! So many people had died, so many lives ruined but to see her best friend killed right in front of her eyes and with such little regard as though she'd swatted a fly… Elena broke down, weeping uncontrollably.

Relishing the look on Elena's face, Katherine hauled the girl to her feet. "Jeremy, bring the witch. I'll take care of big sis."

Jeremy turned to Katherine, not sure he understood why he was bringing Bonnie along. "But she's…"

Katherine fixed him with a withering look. "Don't make me teach you a lesson already, pet. I don't like to repeat myself."

"Yeah okay, you're the boss." Jeremy hastened to Bonnie's side, lifting her limp form awkwardly.

"And don't you forget it." Katherine smirked and Elena was struck by the resemblance to Damon's trademark smirk. "Goodnight Elena, just think, when you wake up, you'll have so much to look forward to." Katherine sighed happily, tapping Elena on the back of the head just hard enough to knock her out.

*** back from commercial***

Damon crouched outside the Gilbert home, ears straining to catch the conversation inside. Not that there was anything he could do about it if things got out of hand in there, but he couldn't help but listen to what they were putting Elena through.

A startled gasp left his lips as Katherine killed Bonnie, he could have sworn she wouldn't waste power in any form. Poor stupid witch… that's what she got for barring him from the house. While he wouldn't personally miss her all that much, he was indebted to her for saving him from the fire the night of the Founder's party and he hated to hear the anguish in Elena's voice over her fallen friend. As Katherine gave the order to bring Bonnie along, the gears in his head started to turn, just what did she have in mind?

With a bang, the kitchen door flew open and Katherine came into view, carrying Elena's unconscious form. He could move now, but the odds of getting Elena away from Katherine before she had time to react were slim to none and he would lose the element of surprise. As much as it pained him to do so, Damon let them go, maintaining his hiding place. Soon the odds would improve, and he would have his chance, he would accept nothing less.

Once he was sure they were well and truly gone, Damon sped back to the open kitchen door gritting his teeth over the inability to enter it. He could see Alaric lying in a heap on the ground, still unmoving. "Get up…" He growled, practically vibrating with of impatience.

A low moan came to his ears and Damon watched as Alaric slowly pushed himself up to a seated position. Thank god for that ring… had Katherine forgotten about it, or was she ignorant of its existance? "Hey… genius… heal on your own time, we've got work to do." Damon snapped at him.

"Genius?" Alaric wheezed, drawing in a pained breath as his ribs snapped back into place.

"Well what would you call it? Leading an unarmed charge at Katherine like that? Talk about a brain trust moment." Damon muttered sarcastically. "Come on, you can ponder over the folly of your ways some other time, we've got work to do." He snapped his fingers impatiently.

"You were here for that? Why didn't you come in here and stop her yourself?" Alaric's expression darkened.

"Not that I owe you any explanations, but our good witch of the north uninvited me from the house as near as I can tell. So, short of fetching your girlfriend down here to invite me in for tea and cookies I've got to stay out here."

"Jenna… is she okay?" Alaric twisted around, but there was no sign of her.

"Relax, I can hear her still sleeping upstairs. Whatever that hospital gave her, it was some good stuff." He smirked. "Now come on, time to hop on your white horse and save the day, isn't that what you hero types do?"

"What about you? Are you gonna ride a black horse?" Ric smirked, standing up, feeling much better now.

"Uh uh." Damon shook his head. "Horses don't exactly embrace having undead riders, we give each other a wide berth. However, I do happen to have something in mind that doesn't involve horses so we're good."

"You have a plan? Let's hear it." Alaric nodded.

"I know you know how to get ahold of her."

"Who?"

"The sugar plum fairy…" he deadpanned, giving a shake of the head. "Did she drop you on your head? Who the hell do you think I'm talking about? Isobel, your wayward wife."

"Oh, her." His eyes took on a haunted look. "I don't know what good you think she'll do, she's in Katherine's back pocket."

"I think you're underestimating the bonds of motherly love."

"She's never been a mother to Elena." Alaric pointed out.

"No? Of anyone I've ever met, Isobel was someone who knew herself through and through. She knew what she was and what she wasn't. She knew she wasn't cut out to be a mother. She gave Elena a better life than she would have had with her. She might be doing Katherine's bidding but not at the expense of Elena's life.

"I do know how to reach her." Rick grudgingly admitted.

"Good. Fire up the old cell phone, we don't have much time." Drawing out his own phone, he pulled up Stefan's number.

**A/N: Okay guys, time to weigh in. I am enjoying writing this fanfic, trying to be true to the series and the characters, not taking Elena and Damon too close too fast. But I have been thinking about an AU storyline where I can have a little more fun with them and not worry about the consequences of their actions so much. What do you guys think? Are you stll interested in reading more of this current fanfic? Would you rather see a more lighthearted/possibly steamy AU one with Damon and Elena on a road trip? Or secret option number three, I could alternate writing for each?**

**Feedback is love people **


	13. Into the Fire

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**.

**Wow… thanks for all the great feedback, it really brightens my day when they pop up in my email! So I'm getting that people want to see this storyline continue but there was also some interest in the lighter road trip story as well. So what I'll do is I'll alternate back and forth between the two. Be on the lookout for another story to come in the next day or so, I'll probably title it something original like "Road Trip" or something similar. **

Elena awoke slumped against the hard concrete wall of a basement, the cold numbness spreading through her bum telling her that she'd been there for some time. With a low groan she pushed away from the wall, eyes sweeping across the darkened space, automatically drawn to the lone light hanging from the middle of the ceiling. Directly under the light was a chair, occupied by someone hunched over as though he was unconscious.

Since Katherine hadn't bothered to tie her up, Elena rose to her feet, tottering a little unsteadily as the circulation started to flow back into her limbs. "Hey…" She called out softly, approaching the person from behind, craning her neck to try and see if she recognized him. It almost looked like… "Uncle Johnathan?" Elena gasped, taking in his bedraggled state, the missing fingers and the pool of blood drying on the floor beneath his chair.

"S-stay away… from m-me." He managed to get out, his breathing labored and Elena wasn't sure if he was having trouble because of the pain or something else.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Stupid question, she realized that almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth and she knelt in front of him to try and get a better look at his face. "What did she do to you?" In addition to the severed fingers, it also looked like he'd been stabbed fairly severely in the torso, his clothing was absolutely soaked with blood, it was amazing he was still alive at all. "We need to get you to the hospital…"

"No…" His voice was stronger now and he looked up to meet her gaze, his eyes tortured. "No doctors. There is no cure for what I am now."

All at once Elena understood, he hadn't survived the attack, Katherine had turned him into what he hated most. "So you're… you're a…"

"Not quite yet, but I don't have very long." He shook his head. "You need to keep away from me."

Her forehead puckered with a combination of worry and confusion. "What do you mean? You need my help to get out of here." She started to examine the ropes binding his legs to the chair.

"Don't touch those!" His voice thundered, startling her enough to topple over onto her behind as she stared up at him in shock. "Elena, it's safer fo you if I stay tied up." He bit out.

"You wouldn't attack me…" She tried to shake off the notion, but deep down inside something in his eyes scared her.

"I pray that I wouldn't, but…" He paused, unable to meet her gaze. "I can feel you there, even when I'm not looking at you. I can feel your heart beating, the blood pulsing through your veins, it's… making my mouth water." Johnathan added, his voice rich with self recrimination.

"Oh." She said quietly, scooting back a little further away. The last thing she wanted was to make things more difficult for him after everything he'd been through. For a long moment she watched him, unsure what to do for him or for her. It was a safe bet that Katherine would have the basement entrance guarded and the windows looked too small to crawl through.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Elena asked him finally, trusting that he'd know what she was referring to without having to spell it all out.

"I promised my brother I'd stay away." He replied in a dull voice, staring at a crack in the concrete floor.

"But what about after they died? I mean didn't I deserve to know? Or didn't you want to be saddled with a daughter?" She couldn't keep the bitterness from leeching into her tone.

Johnathan looked up then, a trace of his old arrogance on his face. "Let's be real here Elena, you've never made it a great secret what you think about me. I figured the last thing you wanted was me for a father." His lips twisted into a rueful smile.

"Hey I'm not saying I would have rushed right into your arms for a hug but I still think you should have told me." Elena retorted indignantly, before her voice dropped to softer tones. "I don't have all that much family left. It's pretty much just you and Jenna now." There was a catch in her voice at that last, thinking of how far Jeremy had sunk into depravity.

"What about Jeremy?" He asked.

Elena gave a sad shake of the head. "He turned himself with Anna's blood and now he's… it's like a stranger walking around in his body. It looks like Jer but that's about as far as the resemblance goes. He doesn't even sound like him anymore."

"He did that to himself?" Johnathan gasped, clearly stunned at the revelation before rage swept through him and he struggled against his bonds with an inarticulate cry. "Fucking vampires! They've ruined my life, my town…"

"Shhh, don't." Elena looked up in alarm towards the basement stairs. "You'll bring someone down here." That was the last thing she needed, they needed to work on an escape plan. "Besides, I can't believe that Jeremy's a lost cause. There has to be part of him still in there, not all vampires are evil."

Johnathan began to laugh hysterically. "Are you still telling yourself that? Oh right, because the Salvatore brothers are going to come riding to the rescue at any moment. Nevermind that they're cold blooded killers, you know Damon's even killed me once."

Elena's expression grew stricken at the mention of Damon. She'd started to fall for his little redemption act and she could kick herself for being so gullible. Why hadn't she realized what a manipulative bastard he was, even given everything he'd done in the past? When she thought back to all the time they'd spent together recently… that kiss… she could have sworn… how could her instincts have been that far off?

Even Stefan had let her down, virtually disappearing ever since Katherine's return. Or was there something more behind that? It wasn't like him to take off when things were so dangerous, but the look on his face in the hospital when she'd been consoling Matt… what was that about?

"Maybe you deserved it, did you ever think of that?" Elena replied coldly, taking her wounded feelings out on him.

"Oh I've no doubt of that, I've done some questionable things in my day." Johnathan snorted. "But this…? Nobody deserves this." His voice dropped with hopelessness.

Elena rose to her feet, wiping her hands off on the back of her jeans. There had to be a way out of there… Scooting an old crate beneath the window, she climbed up to take a look out of the dirty panes of glass, searching for something, anything to give her a spark of inspiration.

The sudden opening of the basement door at the top of the stairs sent her scurrying off the crate to hide behind a stack of boxes, crouching in the dim light.

*** back from commercial ***

Damon stood in the doorway for a moment, deliberately leaving it open as he started down the stairs. Breathing a sigh of relief at finding Johnathan still trussed up tight to the chair, he extended his senses, looking for any sign of where Elena was hiding. "I can tell you're hiding down there, I'm dead not deaf. Come out, come out, wherever you are." He called out, blatantly ignoring Johnathan.

When she didn't emerge, he moved quick as a flash to her side, crouching beside her in the darkness. "Boo." He poked at her shoulder lightly, grinning at the surprised look on her face.

"Jesus Christ… Damon, that's not funny." She scowled.

He could see the uncertainty in her gaze and it pained him to have to continue this charade. But since he wasn't sure how good of an actress she was and her life depended on Katherine buying his evil act, he needed her turmoil to be very real. "I happen to think it's very funny, but then again, I have been accused of having a very twisted sense of humor before." He smiled, reaching out to draw the tips of his fingers down the smooth column of her throat.

Elena shivered at the light touch, and he could hear the breath hitching in her throat. Oh how he wanted to follow up that touch with a kiss… whisper to her that he would sooner die than leave her to Katherine's devices, but instead he forced the ever ready smirk to his lips. "Oh Elena, always looking for the good in others. When are you gonna learn? I'm not that guy." He sighed. "But tell you what, why don't we be bad together?" His hand slid lower, towards the fullness of her breast.

"Don't you touch me!" Elena slapped his hand away, recoiling in disgust.

"Okay, we'll save playtime for later when you're in a more agreeable mood." Damon shrugged, rising to his feet with one fluid motion. "Alright, up and at em', the big kahuna wants to meet with you." He turned his back on Elena and moved to Johnathan's chair, easily dispatching the ropes that held him tight. He could feel Elena inching towards the basement door and watched her in his perpheral vision.

"Go on up. It's not like you're gonna get anywhere, but at least you can be more comfortable upstairs." Damon could sense her hesitation, but soon enough the rapid pad of feet traced her path up the stairs and into the house. Only then did Damon lean close to Johnathan's ear, his voice barely audible, trusting on his newfound enhanced senses to pick up his words. "Shut up and do exactly what I say if you want Elena to live through this…"

*** back from commercial ***

Elena made it to the top of the stairs, half expecting Damon to pounce on her at any time. The door opened into the kitchen which was bore no sign that anyone lived there, or perhaps simply proved that just vampires lived there. Treading as lightly as she could manage, she made her way down the hallway, searching for some kind of exit, at this point even a window would do, but as she entered the dining room, she spotted Bonnie, sitting calmly at the table. "Bonnie!" She hissed, darting to her side. "My god, I thought… I saw her kill you!"

Bonnie turned to regard Elena with listless eyes, born of great sadness. "She almost did." Her brow crumpled as a wave of distress passed over her features but then smoothed away.

"I don't understand, did she turn you into a vampire too?" Elena couldn't help but reach out to cover her friend's arm with her hand, noting that it wasn't especially cool to the touch.

"Not quite, it's something worse." Bonnie grimaced, placing her hand on Elena's. "Katherine fed me her blood, quite a lot of it before she tried to kill me, I think she was trying to put me under her influence or something. But instead of killing me, her blood healed me, which makes me…" She gave an involuntary shudder, "Have you ever heard of a ghoul?"

"What like on halloween?" Elena blinked.

"No, a ghoul is a human blood slave to a vampire. Vampires will regularly give some of their blood to a human and it heightens their senses, giving them a shadow of the vampire's abilities. It gives the vampire a hold over them and it's supposed to be highly addictive. They live extended lives… well, if the vampire doesn't get tired of them and kill them." She gave a mirthless smile.

"Well that doesn't sound so bad, you're still alive, right?" Elena tried to buoy her friend's spirits, she looked so… hopeless.

Bonnie's head shook slowly from side to side. "I can feel it slipping away."

"What?"

"My humanity." She replied in a melancholy tone. "This is what she did to my ancestor, how she was able to get Emily to do anything she asked, no matter how twisted and evil it was. She enslaved her just the way she's doing this to me and I can't stop her."

"Of course we can stop it, we just have to get out of here, come on…" Elena rose to her feet, tugging at Bonnie's arm.

"You don't understand…" Bonnie rose but whirled swiftly, pinning Elena's arm painfully behind her back. "I _have_ to do what she wants, I have no choice." With unnatural strength, Bonnie propelled her out of the room.

"Bonnie no! You're stronger than this… please!" Elena pleaded with her, feet digging in against the carpeting but Bonnie moved her inexorably closer to the living room.

Bonnie remained silent, holding fast to her as she presented her to Katherine who lounged on a divan. Jeremy sat nearby, following Katherine's movements with big puppy dog eyes, clearly under her thrall.

"Oh good, you're awake. Well I think the gang's nearly all here." Katherine sat up a little higher on the chaise. "No sign of Stefan though, I guess you weren't as important to him as you thought." She added the little dig.

"No biggie, he'll just have to wallow in self-pity once he finds out he was too busy out eating squirrels to save his lady fair." Damon replied cheerfully, bringing Johnathan in tow.

"There you are lover, I was starting to worry about you." Katherine was all smiles but there was an edge to her voice.

"He was being… difficult. I had to teach him a lesson." Damon scowled, cuffing Johnathan on the back of the head before flinging him into a heap on the floor.

"What's going on?" Jeremy asked, climbing to his feet. "Uncle John?"

"Hey kiddo." Johnathan winced, staying on the ground.

"It's time to add another member to the family." Katherine smiled, moving to John's side and hauling him to his feet.

Relieved of having to watch over Johnathan, Damon sidled up to Elena's side, reaching up to push her dark hair gently away from her neck. "Why don't you let me turn her after you make Johnathan feed? Then we'll make her our pet? I've always wanted a slave girl." He waggled his eyebrows at Elena.

"Turn her? Don't be ridiculous." Katherine scoffed, clearly disgusted with the notion.

Elena could just imagine Katherine wouldn't want her doppelganger running around for too much longer, she couldn't stand the competition. "You'd have to kill me first." Elena spat back at Damon, her eyes flashing.

"Well duh, that's how it works genius." Damon smirked, jerking Elena out of Bonnie's hold and pulling her back against his chest, holding her fast with one arm around her middle, his other hand gently nudging her head to one side. "You're not just gonna let Johnathan have her, are you?" He asked, eyes on Katherine as he gently nuzzled against Elena's neck. "I've been waiting to taste her for far too long."

Freezing in his grasp, Elena stifled a gasp as Damon held her close to his body. He was talking about drinking her blood and though her mind revolted at the idea, her traitorous body found itself responding to his intimate touch. She could feel her heart rate speed up and she knew that he felt it too, hating him for making her react to him in this way. "So why didn't you then, huh? Why didn't you attack me and get it over with? Why all the headgames?" Elena forced her head away to stare over her shoulder at him accusingly.

"I knew you were simple but come on, how could you know me so little?" Damon chuckled, holding fast to her chin to keep her from looking away. "It's _all_ about the headgames. Where's the fun in killing you without making you suffer first?"

"Go to hell." Elena struggled in his grasp, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing just how much she had allowed him to hurt her, how much she had started to care.

"Already been there, got the t-shirt." He replied glibly.

Katherine watched the interplay with interest. "I think you've done about all you can to her, Damon. We'll find new sport for you." She tried to distract him from the girl in his arms.

"Fresh meat?" Damon's eyes lit on Katherine, his apparent interest in Elena forgotten, though he still held her close, almost protectively.

"The world is our delicatessen, lover. Screw this backwoods town, we can go anywhere we want." Katherine smiled, her eyes full of promise. "All of us, we can be a real family." Her eyes lit upon the others in the room except for Elena, a private smile for both Bonnie and Jeremy.

"Is there room for one more?" A feminine voice came from the foyer.

**A/N: Okay so I'm taking a little bit of liberty with the ghoul lore (not the flesh eating zombie kind, but servants to vampires), but I decided that it's an interesting new twist for Bonnie to have to deal with. (Plus the plot bunnies are hopping like mad at the possibilities of a witch addicted to vampire blood and a vamp out there with a yen for human blood… and I need a really good reason for Elena to get Stefan completely out of her system.)**

**Feedback is love people **


	14. Retribution

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**. **Thanks for the feedback guys; it definitely motivates me to keep the story going! I do intend to try and keep this sucker going until the show comes back on the air, at which time I'll probably try to wrap it up. But that doesn't mean the show itself won't spawn some new plot bunnies... **

"_Is there room for one more?" A feminine voice came from the foyer. _

_Right on cue…_ Damon resisted the urge to smile at Isobel's entrance, dragging Alaric in tow, instead affecting a scowl of irritation. Alaric looked a little worse for wear and he had to wonder if she'd really roughed him up to make things look more authentic.

"What are you doing here?" Katherine's voice was flat and unfriendly, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Are you kidding? The chance to see Johnnie boy there lose that last vestige of honor? I wouldn't miss it for the world." Isobel's smile was wide. "What? I'm a thoughtful houseguest, I even brought a snack." Her eyes danced as she looked over at Alaric, struggling painfully under her vice-like grip.

"And here I thought you were sweet on that one." Katherine replied thoughtfully, eyes sweeping over Alaric.

"It's true, there was that nostalgia factor. But I'm afraid in this instance the memory of the man was better than the reality. In fact… I have no idea what I ever saw in him." Isobel replied with an almost puzzled shake of the head as she shoved Ric down to the floor, which placed him slightly between Johnathan's position on the ground and where Damon held Elena.

"Mr. Saltzman?" Jeremy blinked at the sudden entrance. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting the sh… stuff kicked out of me." Ric amended his statement at the last moment.

"I think you might be out of the loop kid, maybe some introductions are in order? Who wants to go first?" Damon smiled brightly, maintaining his hold on Elena. "Wait let me, let's see if I can get this right. Uncle John you already know, but I'm betting you didn't know that he's actually Elena's father, am I right?" Barely pausing for a reaction, Damon moved on. "The hottie over there playing mistress of pain with Alaric is his ex-wife Isobel… or is she still your wife Ricky? Technically you two never got divorced."

Alaric managed to give Damon the finger but said nothing.

"Anywho, the lovely Isobel also just happens to be Elena's birth mother. Everyone still with me? I forget how slow some of you newbies can be sometimes." He smirked at Jeremy and John. Bonnie he just ignored, in her current state she was of absolutely no use to his plan, in fact, she provided a very dangerous unknown.

Almost comically slow, reactions registered on Jeremy's face from surprise to shock to anger at Damon's taunts. With a gutteral cry he charged at Damon with no regard to his sister in harm's way.

Damon barely shifted his stance, having anticipated the attack. He swatted Jeremy back with hardly any effort, sending him flying backwards and tangling into the long velvet drapes that hung at the windows. "Katherine, you'd better teach your new puppy some manners. Bad things can happen if he can't control his bite, and I have much bigger… teeth than he has." Damon's eyes glittered dangerously. "Don't I, Angel?" He breathed at Elena's ear, enjoying the delicate shiver that coursed through her body in response, knowing it was more than fear coursing through her at the moment. She'd seen every inch of him in all his naked glory and he'd had more than an eyeful of her in the past couple of days, and once this was all over… he was looking forward to discovering if that shared kiss had been a fluke.

"You certainly have a bigger ego, that's about all I can attest to." Elena scowled, trying without success to pull away from him.

"Okay enough…" Katherine's hands came up, and Damon recognized that look; she didn't like how things were spiraling out of her control. "Fine, as long as you stay out of the way I don't care if you watch, just keep your offering over there, we'll enjoy him later." She waved to Isobel and Alaric dismisively.

A look was exchanged between Damon, Alaric, Isobel and Johnathan.

"I'll keep him out of your hair, I promise." Isobel smiled, circling around Katherine to stand on her other side.

"This is it Elena, it really is." Damon shifted his hold on her. "Any final words?" His lips brushed over the outer whorls of her ear, practically tasting the fear coming off of her in waves. He knew that Katherine could sense it too and was counting on it to make her feel complacent.

"Elena's lips pressed tightly together, at first not wanting to give him the satisfaction of any reaction from her as her eyes went from one person to the next, seeking any kind of help. One by one she was disappointed as they avoided meeting her gaze, even her own mother… As a last ditch effort, she twisted in Damon's grip, trying to meet his eyes. "Please… don't do this." She begged him, her voice raw with emotion.

Katherine watched with amusement, relishing Elena's palpable distress. "Good luck with that sweetie, it's like trying to get blood from a stone."

Elena ignored Katherine's comment, focusing solely on Damon, her eyes pleading. "I know there's good in you, I've felt it."

"Wait… isn't that from Return of the Jedi?" Jeremy scoffed.

"Shut up Jer!" Elena looked desperate to reach Damon and he couldn't help but look deep into her eyes as she continued her impassioned plea. "I know you care about me Damon, I can feel it when you look at me, when you think I won't notice."

"That's not love honey, it's something that originates somewhat south of the heart." Katherine gave a very unlady like snort.

Damon remained silent, it serving both of his purposes to do so. More than anything he wanted to hear what else she had to say on the subject; was it possible she felt a ghost of the feelings in return? His fingertips stroked the underside of her jaw tenderly, even as he struggled to keep a neutral expression on his face.

"You don't have to do this." Elena pleaded with him. "I know you're more than what she sees of you because I've seen it myself." Her voice dropped to a bare whisper. "You've shown me someone worth knowing."

Unable to resist, Damon leaned in and brushed his lips against hers, tenderly as if there was no one else in the room with thim. The soft hitch in her breath at the contact was music to his ears but he pulled away instead of giving into the heady desire to deepen the kiss. "You're wrong Angel…" He shook his head, forcing her to look forward again, unable to bear the hurt that was bound to show up in her eyes. "I _do_ have to do this."

"Finally…" Katherine muttered petulantly, obviously not thrilled with having to witness that kiss. Picking John up by the shoulder, she propelled him towards Elena. "Come on, it's time to end this once and for all."

Elena's tears spilled freely down her cheeks, burning Damon wherever they touched his skin, filling him full of regret. But this was the way it had to be, the only way he knew how to end this. Forcing her head to one side, Damon drew his fingernail across Elena's neck with enough force to deliver a shallow cut. His fangs descending as he caught the bright copper scent of her blood right there, so close to his senses.

A soft cry of pain escaped Elena's lips at the wound and she began to struggle against Damon in earnest again.

Johnathan swallowed nervously as the blood welled from the cut and started to drip down her neck, pressing back against Katherine's hold on him.

"Do it." Katherine urged at John's ear. "Give in to the hunger."

"Do it." Jeremy's eyes blazed from his vantage point by the couch, the scent of the blood driving his newly acquired vampire senses into overdrive.

"I can't…" Johnathan shook his head. "I won't…"

"You will…" Katherine's eyes blazed, pushing him inexorably forward.

"Do it." Damon gave him a pointed look, his voice strong and firm, commanding John's full attention, away from the call of the blood. "Do it…"

Elena stared at her father's face, unable to fathom the look that passed between him and Damon.

The faintest of nods came from John and he lurched forward suddenly, predictably towards Elena's neck. Not so predictable was the vervain dart that he plunged into Katherine's side in the same swift motion.

Twin screams echoed through the room, Katherine's and Elena's merging on one perfect pitch for a long moment before Elena's surprise at not being bitten cut off her scream even as Katherine's turned gutteral with a mixture of anger and pain.

Just then Stefan burst into the room, taking in the scene before him, Elena's scream, Johnathan lunging for her throat, Damon holding her fast, Katherine's inexplicable cry of rage. Fast as lightning he lunged forward to Elena's rescue, tossing John aside, his fist hammering out and connecting with Damon's nose. "Elena, get behind me!" He called out.

"Ow, you dick!" Damon cried, too stunned by the interruption to dodge, his hand rose to his nose, feeling the crack of bone at the impact. But there was no time to deal with Stefan and his misdirected heroism. "Come on, we don't have much time!" He called out to the others, there was no telling how long the vervain would incapacitate a vampire of Katherine's age.

Johnathan scrambled to regain his footing in the same instant that Isobel darted to his side, both of them pinning Katherine down who retained her consciousness, but was clearly seriously weakened by the vervain in her system. Alaric scrambled to shove Jeremy out of the way, producing a stake from the sleeve of his coat, he tossed it to Damon who deftly snatched it from the air without turning his head, moving to stand before Katherine, his other hand still pressed to his nose.

"What the…" Stefan's expression was almost comical as he was largely ignored, by the rest of the people in the room, having expected a fight. Elena clung to his side, her eyes riveted to the action unfolding before them.

Damon sank down to the ground, straddling Katherine, the stake held over her heart. Her eyes were wide and panicked, filled with confusion over the swift change of events. "You don't get it do you Katherine? How everything could go to shit for you just when you were sitting on top of the world." He shook his head.

"Without me none of you would even be here!" Katherine's eyes blazed. "I made you, you can not do this to me! Release me, I command it!" She all but screamed.

Jeremy made another move to rush to Katherine's aid but Alaric tripped him up, drawing Stefan's attention away long enough to come and help secure him. Bonnie stood immobile, watching the action with a kind of detached calm.

"When are you gonna get it?" Damon smirked. "Everyone in this room has always done your bidding, yes. Out of fear, nothing more. But we choose to risk everything for Elena out of love." He waited just a moment longer for the realization to fully sink in before he brought the stake down in one swift motion, piercing her heart.

A rattling cry left Katherine's lips, but it didn't last long as her body reacted with the wooden stake, rapidly decomposing before their very eyes, shriveling into a dried up husk that collapsed upon itself, leaving a pile of bones and ash wrapped in her clothes.

"Oh my god…" Elena breathed, her eyes wide with shock.

"No!" Jeremy cried out in anguish, pulling away from Stefan. He shot them all venomous looks, backing towards the window and then diving headlong into it, disappearing into the night.

Damon stared down at Katherine's remains, the hand that had plunged the stake through her chest shaking as he slowly regained his feet. As his head came up he caught Elena staring at him, her expression inscrutable. Their eyes locked for a long moment and he took a step towards her before Stefan reappeared at her side, drawing her into his embrace.

"My god Elena, are you alright? I thought… well I didn't know what to think when I got here…" Stefan said.

"Yeah, no, I'm fine, really." Elena shook her head, looking back up at Damon again even as she wrapped her arms around Stefan in return.

Damon's fists clenched tightly together, little half moons appearing on the palms of his hands from the fingernails embedded into the skin as he watched them together. "Yeah, everything's hunky dory now that Prince Stefan came to the rescue." He said bitterly, turning to the door, having no intention of sticking around to watch the reunion. "Take care of him." Damon bit out to Isobel, gesturing to Johnathan who still sat on the ground next to Katherine's corpse. "I need some air." Without a backwards glance he strode from the room.

"Damon… wait." Elena cried out, but if he heard her he gave no sign of it.

**I hope you enjoyed that. I debated back and forth whether or not to kill off Katherine and in the end I decided that it's just too cheesy when shows drag things out for too long, so I got rid of her. What did you guys think? Too soon? Just right? That doesn't mean smooth sailing for the rest of the characters though by any means! And don't worry, just because Stefan is back doesn't mean I'm not committed to Delena! More of them to come, I promise! **

**Feedback is love people **


	15. More Goodbyes

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**. ** Thanks for all the positive feedback over killing off Katherine, I promise I'll get to some Damon and Elena time soon, but got to wrap up some stuff first. **

_Damon stared down at Katherine's remains, the hand that had plunged the stake through her chest shaking as he slowly regained his feet. As his head came up he caught Elena staring at him, her expression inscrutable. Their eyes locked for a long moment and he took a step towards her before Stefan reappeared at her side, drawing her into his embrace._

"_My god Elena, are you alright? I thought… well I didn't know what to think when I got here…" Stefan said._

"_Yeah, no, I'm fine, really." Elena shook her head, looking back up at Damon again even as she wrapped her arms around Stefan in return. _

_Damon's fists clenched tightly together, little half moons appearing on the palms of his hands from the fingernails embedded into the skin as he watched them together. "Yeah, everything's hunky dory now that Stefan came to the rescue." He said bitterly, turning to the door, having no intention of sticking around to watch the reunion. "Take care of him." Damon bit out to Isobel, gesturing to Johnathan who still sat on the ground next to Katherine's corpse. "I need some air." Without a backwards glance he strode from the room._

"_Damon… wait." Elena cried out, but if he heard her he gave no sign of it._

Elena watched Damon go, tempted to go out after him but Stefan's hold on her kept her firmly in place. She couldn't imagine what was going on in his head at that moment, her own thoughts were swirling around like crazy, not quite sure what to believe. His apparent betrayal had been a lie, all designed to fool Katherine, she got that now. But why? Why hadn't he told her what he was doing? Why keep her in the dark like that? Why the need to torture her?

Was it because part of him still enjoyed making people squirm? It was possible, at his core Damon was never going to be the fluffy bunny type, but she had to admit she kinda liked that about him, how he just didn't give a damn what anyone else thought about him. He did what he wanted when he wanted, selfish… only he hadn't been selfish when he'd risked everything to save her had he? He'd killed the only woman he'd ever professed to love in order to spare her life. Had Isobel been right all along? "He loves me..." She murmured, stunned by the notion.

Stefan's arms tightened around her in response, jarring her from her train of thought. Turning to shift her focus to her errant boyfriend, Elena was surprised to find him not staring at her accusingly for focusing on his brother, but instead found him intently focused on her neck. "Stefan?" Her brow puckered with concern when he didn't repond. Slowly he closed the distance between them, the rasp of his tongue laving over her pulse with a broad lick. Startled by the sting at her neck, Elena belatedly remembered the wound there that Damon had scratched in order to entice Johnathan. "Stefan!" She shoved him away from her as hard as she could and his eyes snapped up to her, a guilty expression on his face.

"My god… I… I'm so sorry." His voice throbbed with remorse and he took a step backwards.

"It's okay, I'm fine." Her hand clapped to her neck and she could feel that the blood flow had slowed to just a trickle, nothing dangerous… unless there happened to be a hungry vampire in the room and she was in fact in a room with two and a half vampires. She was more concerned that he might have set himself off on another bender for human blood. But he'd backed off without a struggle, maybe he had better control over himself now?

Stefan took another step backwards, his hands clutching tightly to the back of an upholstered chair.

All at once Elena remembered that there were others in the room that had risked just as much on her behalf. Her gaze swung to where Johnathon sat on the ground, his eyes red rimmed and a little wild, staring at her with what she could only imagine was hunger. Isobel sat crouched by his side, murmuring soft words at his ear that Elena could not hear. "Is he gonna be okay?" Elena asked her birth mother, keeping her distance from John.

Isobel looked up and met her gaze squarely, giving a slight shake of the head.

Alaric had moved to Bonnie's side, an arm around her shoulders. Bonnie was quietly weeping, a look of such devastation on her face… it nearly broke Elena's heart. So much pain and all because of her… Only it wasn't Elena that had started it all, it was Katherine who was to blame. Katherine who now lay all corpsified and gross on the carpet.

There were too many conversations that needed to take place all at once and Elena wasn't sure where to begin. Deciding that her father looked like he was in the worst shape, she moved to kneel before him.

"S-stay where you are…" Johnathan pleaded with her, scooting back at her approach.

Elena halted in her tracks, her eyes going from his to Isobel's, looking for an explanation. He'd been wounded but seemed to healing, no doubt from being turned.

"He doesn't want to complete the transformation." Isobel explained softly.

"But… he'll die." Elena frowned as she realized just how much the thought troubled her, even after her less than stellar relationship with the man.

"I'm already dead." Johnathan's head shook miserably. "And I won't become the very thing that killed me. I won't take another life to save my own." There was a kernal of strength in his voice at that last and his chin came up with determination.

"You don't have to kill… Stefan, tell him. Tell him he can survive without killing others." Elena looked back to Stefan who seemed to be lost in his own private world, not following the conversation at all until his name had been spoken.

Stefan's head came up, clueing in to the situation at hand. "Elena…" He began softly, "it's extremely difficult for a newly made vampire to control those urges."

"But it can be done, you were going to try with Vicki, remember?"

"And you remember how that turned out." Stefan wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders, taking care to stay on the side of her that was away from the wound at her neck.

"If he tastes human blood it will be extremely difficult for him to stop without killing the victim, even though it does not take all that much blood to complete the transformation." Isobel interjected.

"What about some blood from the bloodbank? Damon keeps a stash of it, right? He could drink that and we could keep him locked up at first, until he adjusts a bit." Elena suggested, searching for something, anything that wouldn't end with his death.

"Is that what you really want for me Elena?" Johnathan scoffed. "Keep me locked up in a dungeon somewhere feeding me animal blood until I get a hold of my cravings? Hoping that when you do let me go I won't go berzerk and go on a killing spree? What kind of a life is that?"

"Okay when you put it like that…"

"No, I refuse to live like that and force my loved ones to watch me go through it either. You are my loved one you know." John's face changed a little, his eyes losing some of the hunger and softening as he gazed at his daughter for the last time.

"Uncle John…" Elena took a step towards him but John was faster, grabbing the stake from what was left of Katherine's corpse, he plunged it into his heart with a strangled cry. Elena screamed, falling to his side even as the light dimed from his eyes.

"Goodbye… Elena…" He managed to get out in a raspy rattle before his body started to react to the wood, returning him to the state he should have been in if Katherine had just let him die in that kitchen.

"No…" Elena sobbed beside him.

"Elena… come with me." Stefan urged her, wanting her to get away from the bodies.

"No, I can't leave him like that." Her shoulders shook as she wept for the father she'd never really acknowledged as her own.

"I'll take care of him." Isobel volunteered. "It's the least I can do."

"Come on Elena, you need to get away from here." Stefan urged again, practically dragging her to her feet.

"I'm not a child Stefan, you won't make all of this go away just by taking me out of here and offering me an ice cream cone." Elena retorted bitterly.

Stefan's jaw clenched but his voice was calm when he replied. "I don't think that you're a child, but we need to get you home."

"I don't want to go home, I want…" What did she want? She didn't want to be having this argument with him that was for sure. What she really wanted… Elena realized that she wanted to find Damon and clear the air between them, let him know that she understood now. Beyond that… "Why don't we go back to your place? We can talk there, it seems like I haven't spent more than two minutes with you since the Founders Day celebration."

"Really? You want to come back to the boarding house?" Stefan smiled at the thought and Elena felt as though she was about an inch high for giving him the wrong impression for her wanting to go there.

She couldn't do that to him, tell him one thing while she was secretly hoping for another. "On second thought maybe I should get home, Jenna must be worried sick." That wasn't entirely truthful either, at last she'd heard Jenna was sleeping with Prince Valium that night and wouldn't even have known she was taken in the first place. She mashed her lips together to stem the flow of lies that seemed to be coming from her.

"Of course, I'll take you home right away." Stefan offered, rubbing her back soothingly. "We really should talk."

"Yes, we should." Elena murmured. "We should get Bonnie home too." Her eyes lit upon her friend who seemed to have passed out against Alaric's chest, having cried herself to sleep.

Stefan stared at Bonnie a long, hard moment. "I can take her home." He offered, his voice sounding curiously detached.

Elena turned to study him curiously, wondering what he was thinking at that sudden reversal.

Alaric caught it too and they traded a look. "I can take Bonnie home if you want to see to Elena." Ric offered, watching the vampire with interest.

Stefan seemed to notice then that they were both staring at him and offered a faint smile. "Thanks, I appreciate that. Shall we go then?" He laid a hand at the small of Elena's back.

"Ah yeah…" Elena turned back for one last look at Johnathan's body, her eyes lighting upon Isobel for a moment. "Thanks, for coming to help with all of this."

"Don't get used to it kid, I don't intend to stick around this time." Isobel smirked but there was a trace of warmth around her eyes when she looked back at her daughter.

"Still, thanks all the same, to you too Mr. Saltzman." Elena smiled at the man.

"I'm just glad things turned out okay." He nodded, his voice soft so as not to disturb Bonnie.

Elena wasn't quite sure _okay_ was the word she'd use to describe how things had turned out, but she didn't reply. Instead she let Stefan steer her out of the house, climbing into his car without saying a word until they were on the road.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Stefan asked, darting a look over at her as he sped through the night.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Elena answered quickly, perhaps a little automatically; it would take her a while to process the night's events. "Where have you been? I tried calling you after we found Jeremy's body but all I got was your voicemail." There was a note of accusation in her voice.

"Yeah… I was… I'm sorry, I should have been there for you. I can't believe Jeremy's turned, where do you think he ran off to?"

It wasn't an answer, not really and Elena frowned in the darkened car. Refusing to be distracted by the subject of her brother for the moment, she pressed him for answers. "Stefan, what's going on with you?"

"What do you mean? I'm just fine now that I know you're here safe with me." He looked over with one of his trademark smiles and she was convinced for about a half a second before she started to have niggling doubts again.

"So why didn't you return any of my calls? And you were at the hospital, right? Why didn't you come over to say anything?"

The arrived outside her house just then but neither of them made any move to get out of the car as he put it into park. Stefan was silent, his hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. Finally he broke his silence. "I thought… Katherine came to see me at the house, I thought she was you."

Elena blinked at him, not having expected to hear him say anything like that. "What did she say?"

"She said that she… you… never wanted to see me again. That she blamed me for ruining everything in your life and she was done with me, with us."

Her heart twisted with the pain in his voice. "Oh Stefan… god I'm so sorry..." Though she hadn't done anything wrong, she found herself apologizing for the pain he'd gone through on her account.

"She was right you know, none of this would have happened if I hadn't come back to Mystic Falls."

"You don't know that. Katherine might have come back on her own at any time, seen how closely I resemble her and decided to take out her twisted revenge on me just for kicks. You can't second guess yourself Stefan." Elena reached out to cover his hand with hers.

Stefan turned to face her, his face stricken. "I know I haven't been there for you. There are some… things I'm dealing with, things I need to handle on my own but I am… I will make it up to you Elena, I swear."

His voice held an edge of almost hysteria to it that scared her a little. "Stefan it's alright. I wish you would tell me whatever it is though, I'd like to help you if I can."

"No one can help me. It's something I have to do myself." Stefan replied, his face bleak as he stared out the window into the night sky.

Elena simply stared at him, not quite sure what to say in response. "Well you know where I am if you need me, I'll be here for you." She promised, giving his hand a squeeze.

"I know and I appreciate that, more than you know." Stefan turned to give her a faint smile. "It'll be okay, I promise."

For whatever reason she couldn't bring herself to believe him but Elena forced a smile to her lips as he drew her into his embrace. Their lips had barely touched when she found herself pulling back. "I should really get inside, make sure Jenna's okay, get some rest."

"Of course, would you like me to come with you?" He offered, stroking the side of her face with his thumb before he released her.

"No, it'll be fine. I'm sure she's slept through this whole thing. Call me tomorrow though, okay?"

"I will." Stefan promised, the smile on his face so much like the old Stefan that Elena had to wonder if she was making more out of this than there was? Maybe things really were fine?

"Goodnight." Elena smiled, climbing out of the car and walking to her house, stopping to give him a little wave as she got to the front door, only then realizing that she'd forgotten to say she loved him. "I love you." She said it then, knowing he could probably hear her from where he watched her in his car. Sure enough he waved right after she'd said it.

Slipping into her house, Elena heard his car start up as soon as she'd shut the door. For a long moment she leaned against the closed door in the dark house, just listening to the silence. A quick check revealed that Jenna was in fact sleeping peacefully in bed, oblivious to everything that had transpired that night. In no particular hurry Elena went about the business of getting ready for bed. Changing into a tank top and sleep shorts, brushing her teeth, washing her face, putting a bandaid at the cut on her neck.

The shallow cut wasn't bleeding at all now, but she preferred to keep it covered, her thoughts going to the way Stefan had licked at her throat. A moment of weakness she supposed, but hadn't he been over that temptation? She'd been certain that he'd kicked the habit of human blood. Would that little taste send him tumbling off the wagon again?

Elena hadn't wanted to ask Stefan about it directly, he'd seemed jumpy enough that evening without accusing him of not having the strength to give it up for good. But maybe Damon would be able to tell her.

Damon.

It was time for a talk with him at any rate, it was long overdue in fact.

Approaching her window, she opened it wide, staring out into the darkness. Perhaps it was fanciful, but she thought she could feel him nearby. Elena sat on the windowsill, the soft summer breeze catching up ends of her hair and splaying them across her bare shoulders. "Damon…" She called out softly, her eyes drifting shut. Another rush of wind stirred her hair but Elena's lips curved in anticipation as she felt his presence beside her. She opened her eyes to see Damon perched on the roof just outside her window

"You called?"

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	16. A Little Rain Must Fall

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**. **Sorry this one's a bit shorter, but I think it works best as a stand alone without anything else. **

_Approaching her window, she opened it wide, staring out into the darkness. Perhaps it was fanciful, but she thought she could feel him nearby. Elena sat on the windowsill, the soft summer breeze catching up ends of her hair and splaying them across her bare shoulders. "Damon…" She called out softly, her eyes drifting shut. Another rush of wind stirred her hair but Elena's lips curved in anticipation as she felt his presence beside her. She opened her eyes to see Damon perched on the roof just outside her window_

"_You called?"_

"I wasn't sure you were around." She smiled, shifting to sit more comfortably against the windowsill.

"Before you go thinking I was just sitting out there all pathetic-like mooning over you, I was actually on my way to see you for a purpose." He stopped her, his hand coming up, one finger extended.

"Oh? What was that?" She asked, losing some of her ease as she wondered if something was wrong already. There was a pause and for a moment she wondered if he was making up this purpose and really had been just sitting out there thinking about her?

"I wanted you to invite me into your house again." Damon answered simply.

"Why would I do that?" The corner of her mouth tugged up into a smile. "Just when I got myself some peace and quiet around here."

"Jeremy can get in." He reminded her. "And if he starts some kind of trouble I won't be able to help you, just like downstairs in the kitchen."

Elena blanched at the memory, had that really just been earlier the same night? It felt like ages ago. "What happened back there Damon? Why couldn't you just come out and tell me what you had planned? Did you think I wouldn't be able to keep your secret?" Her eyes implored him to level with her now.

"I couldn't take the chance that she wouldn't buy your fear, vampires can smell fear like rotten fish. I had to make you actually afraid of me and hope that we lived through it to hash over later." He tried to explain. "So, on a scale of one to ten, how ticked off at me are you right now?" His head tilted to one side as he regarded her.

A smile returned to her lips, it was hard to stay angry at him when he looked at her like that. "In your favor you did actually save my life so I'll go with… four."

"Ouch, I would have thought saving that pretty neck of yours would have at least gained me a two or three at the most." Damon pretended to wince.

Elena laughed. "Are we grading on a curve? Judged against some of the things you've done in the past? In that case the number drops." She grinned. "Seriously though, thank you for what you did." Her expression turned earnest, and she unconsciously leaned a little closer to him, out the window.

"Anytime." He gave an 'aw shucks' grin, shrugging it off like it was no big deal before his intense blue eyes swung back up to meet her dark ones. "Elena…" Damon reached up to push a tendril of hair behind her ear, his fingers caressing the outer whorl of her ear and following to trace along the smooth contour of her cheek. "You know that I would never hurt you if I could avoid it don't you?"

Shivering lightly at the touch, Elena nodded, hearing the plaintive note to his voice. "I know, and I'm sorry that I doubted you." She leaned a little farther out the window towards him.

"The last thing I wanted to do was make you think I didn't give a damn about you, that it had all been a game." His face twisted with pain at the thought.

"I understand Damon, I really do." Her face softened, she could see it now in his eyes. Not that dangerous flirty thing he liked to do, but she could see the love there and her own heart sped up in response before she swallowed, hating what had to come next but knowing it was necessary. "Damon, I…"

"Shhhh…" He stayed her words with a single finger to her mouth, tracing the pout of her lower lip. "Plenty of time for that later." Damon murmured. Closing the distance between them, he brought his lips to hers, taking his reward for saving her life.

The words she'd intended to say fell right out of her head as soon as their lips touched, the only noise escaping her a breathless sound of desire that issued from the back of her throat. This wasn't what she'd called him for, it wasn't what she was supposed to be doing, _especially_ given her last conversation with Stefan; but Elena couldn't deny to herself how exquisitely _right_ it felt. Her lips parted to accept him, tongue sweeping out to tangle with his.

She felt his little growl of passion all the way down to her toes as he deepend the kiss, his hand sinking into her hair to bind her to him. Elena found herself clutching his shoulders, pulling him closer. Never once did she worry about toppling out the window, she trusted him implicitly to keep her upright.

In fact, Damon was more bent on urging her back through the window towards the bed no doubt. Without thinking about the consequences, she let herself be guided back through the window, pulling him with her, their lips never breaking contact. With a jolt he came across the invisible barrier, reminding them both of Bonnie's spell when they broke apart.

"Invite me in." He implored her, his voice dark with need as he tried to touch her again, anywhere.

It was like Elena had been doused by a bucket of cold water at the interruption. Her hand rose to her lips, still swollen from his kisses. "I can't do this…" She cried miserably, already being eaten up with guilt.

"Do what? Be with me? I know you want me Elena, I can feel it even through this barrier."

"Damon, I'm with Stefan." She insisted, wondering suddenly what Stefan would think if he'd seen that kiss. God she was no better than Katherine, was she? It was enough to make her sick to her stomach.

"Then why did you give him the brushoff tonight? Why isn't he in here with you making up for lost time?" Damon demanded.

"I was tired." It sounded weak even to her ears. Why hadn't she let Stefan in after spending so much time apart?

"Tired? Elena you just escaped death, you should be celebrating, experiencing life!" His eyes blazed. He pressed closer but was met with the invisible barrier again.

Elena flinched at the expression on his face, remaining very still on the other side of the window. "I'm not saying that I don't feel… soemthing for you Damon, but I'm not Katherine. It's not in me to string the both of you along. I know that Stefan and I have problems, but what kind of person would I be if I just abandoned him at the first sign of trouble after everything he's done for me?"

"Gratitude isn't a reason to stay with someone Elena." His voice was pleading.

"I happen to love him." Her eyes flashed. "He's going through something very difficult right now and I can't just leave him to deal with it alone."

"You love me too."

There was an intensity to his gaze that she'd never seen before, it was as close as he'd ever come to speaking of love to her before. "No, I don't." Elena protested a little too quickly, a flare of panic coming into her eyes at the rush of desire that swept through her to give in and take that look of pain from his face. She had to be strong though, she wasn't Katherine. "I can't."

"Why, because you could never love a monster like me?" Damon retorted scornfully.

"You're not a monster." Her reply was swift and she meant it, he didn't have to be that way.

A bitter laugh left his lips. "You have no idea how badly I want to kill something right now. To rend and tear flesh, to make everything bleed, to make everyone suffer."

She flinched at the violence in his voice but recognized it for it was, the need to lash out in anger and frustration. Elena took a step closer to him, keeping her voice calm. "But you won't. You're not that person, not anymore." Her voice held utter conviction as she reached out to lay her hand against his cheek.

"What do you want from me Elena?" Damon groaned, leaning into her touch.

That was a loaded question… But Elena took a deep breath, swallowing her initial response. "I want you to be happy."

"You fucking my brother seems like a strange way to go about it then." His eyes were cold as he lashed out at her with the only weapon at his disposal.

She slapped him then, her hand swinging out automaticaly without stopping to think about it. He could have stopped her with his vampire reflexes at any moment, but maybe he wanted that sting of pain as her hand connected with his cheek.

Elena backed away from the window. "I think you should leave."

"Elena…" A myriad of expressions crossed his face then but she wasn't able to decipher them all. "This isn't going to just go away, no matter what you tell yourself." He found his smirk again. "The next time you're with Stefan you're going to be thinking about that kiss." Damon's voice dropped, low and intimate it caressed her through the invisible barrier. "And when you fall asleep tonight, it'll be me you'll dream of in your bed above you, my hands on your soft, silky skin, the taste of my mouth against yours, and my name on your lips the moment you find your sweet release." His lips curved into a wicked grin. "I'll go now, but this isn't over, not by a longshot."

Her eyes had fallen shut at the sound of his voice, almost hypnotic in it's tone. Her hand went absently to the vervain necklace at her throat, wondering if this was what it felt like to be compelled. It certainly wasn't her wish to be assaulted with visions of him in her bed, their limbs entwined. Or was it? With a blink she realized that he'd stopped speaking, and was no longer outside the window. Flying to the window she looked but there was no sign of him. Cheeks burning with shame, she closed the window and climbed into her bed. Sleep was a long time in coming…

**A/N: Okay don't kill me guys, I just couldn't bring Damon and Elena together with hearts and roses just yet, there's too much standing between them still. I didn't want to trivialize any of it by having them jump into each other's arms yet. **

**Feedback is love people **


	17. In Dreams

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**. ** If I did I wouldn't be writing this from the office, pretending to work. Instead a bevy of Damon look-alike houseboys would be fanning me with palm fronds and feeding me peeled grapes while I write…**

**Wow, really mixed reviews this time. I'm getting that you guys really want to see Damon and Elena together for some smuttiness. I'm not ready to cave just yet, but they **_**are**_** getting closer. There are some adult situations in this chapter, but I've tried to keep the language more romantic than graphic in keeping with the rating. To quote ****cosmiclove3: let the love games begin... :)**

"_Elena…" A myriad of expressions crossed his face then but she wasn't able to decipher them all. "This isn't going to just go away, no matter what you tell yourself." He found his smirk again. "The next time you're with Stefan you're going to be thinking about that kiss." Damon's voice dropped, low and intimate it caressed her through the invisible barrier. "And when you fall asleep tonight, it'll be me you'll dream of in your bed above you, my hands on your soft, silky skin, the taste of my mouth against yours, and my name on your lips the moment you find your sweet release." His lips curved into a wicked grin. "I'll go now, but this isn't over, not by a longshot." _

*** whoosh whoosh whoosh***

Elena rolled over, her eyes lighting upon the bare form lying next to her, unashamed of her own scantily clad state.

"So, you're finally up." He smiled, leaning over to press a kiss to her shoulder.

"Maybe if you hadn't kept me up so late…" Elena returned, turning to catch his lips before he pulled away.

Only too happy to oblige, he leaned in for a slow, leisurely kiss. A few moments later he pulled back, a lazy smile on his face. "I'm pretty sure you were the one keeping me_ up_." He smirked.

"I didn't hear you complaining." She grinned back, giving his neck a playful nip.

"Oh it's like that is it?" He gave a bark of laughter, pushing her back and mimicking the love bite, his teeth grazing lightly over her pulse. "I'll give you something to complain about…" He growled, his voice rough with desire.

"Never…" Elena breathed, her hands sliding up his muscular arms, nails biting into his flesh as he settled between her thighs. How could she ever complain about this?

"Tell me you love me." He demanded at her ear, his movements slow and deliberate, designed to drive her crazy with need.

"I love you." She gasped, teeth scraping at his shoulder.

"Tell me you love _me_." He insisted.

"Yes, Damon." Elena's voice broke on a cry of pleasure. "I love you, Damon…"

*** whoosh whoosh whoosh***

Elena woke with a start, her body covered in a fine sheen of sweat, hands fisted in the sheets as she came to her senses.

It was just a dream.

Her body still throbbed with unreleased pressure and as she rolled over, she fancied she could still feel his cool hands on her. Gooseflesh erupted over her skin as she remembered the sound of his voice at her ear, dark with desire. The way their bodies had moved together... Elena forced herself to take a deep, cleansing breath.

It was just a dream.

No reason to feel guilty, right? Nobody had control over their dreams, it was just one of those things. Probably brought on by that kiss, nothing more. It didn't mean anything.

It was just a dream.

So why then had she felt so sick with loss as reality had sunk in? Part of her wanted to get up and take a shower, wash away the last vestiges of the dream and get her head back on straight. But part of her wanted to close her eyes and chase the tail end of the dream where he waited for her…

The shower won out.

From his vantage point outside Damon groaned as he heard her get up and get into the shower… might as well go and take one himself, and make it a cold one.

*** whoosh, whoosh, whoosh ***

Elena felt like a zombie the next morning, not having slept well after returning to bed. It had seemed like everytime she'd started to drop off to sleep she had startled herself awake for fear of slipping back into that dream. A lazy morning was spent puttering around the house, tending to household chores too long left alone. After a couple of cups of coffee and a strained conversation with Jenna who was still recovering from her bout with taking tranquilizers, Elena decided to get out of the house.

She half expected to find Damon lurking outside but there was no sign of him as she headed over to Bonnie's house. Feeling like a bad friend for not even thinking about what her best friend had gone through in the past couple of days, Elena loped up the front porch steps, rapping loudly on the door. As long moments ticked by, she started to wonder if she should have called first, but Bonnie opened the door then. Elena's smile faded as she took in the witch's appearance. There were dark smudges under her red rimmed eyes, her hair tangled as though it hadn't been brushed that morning and her clothes seemed rumpled as if she'd slept in them. Had she been wearing that same outfit the night before? Elena was ashamed to admit she had no idea, she'd been too wrapped up in her own troubles at the time to notice.

"Hey, I thought maybe you might be in the mood for a little company." Elena forced some cheer into her voice.

Bonnie gave a half shrug that Elena wasn't sure quite how to interpret.

"Can I come in?" Her brows rose a fraction.

"Yeah, sure. Of course." A ghost of a smile passed over Bonnie's face but it disappeared just as quickly.

Elena stepped over the threshold, the eerie quiet inside unsettling her.

"I was just gonna make myself some tea, you want?" Bonnie asked, shutting the door and moving past her towards the kitchen without waiting for a response.

"No I'm good…" Elena replied, not bothering to hide the frown that sprang to her lips.

"I'll be right back then, the water's already boiled. Just make yourself at home." She was starting to sound a little more like herself and she offered Elena a faint smile.

Relaxing a little, Elena moved into the living room, plopping down on the couch like she'd done a million times before. Bonnie was acting pretty strange but she wasn't quite ready to call her on it just yet, they'd all been through a lot in the past twenty-four hours.

Bonnie emerged from the kitchen a few minutes later, carefully balancing a wooden tray in her hands, eyes intent on the liquid level in her mug of tea. She managed to set it down without spilling but as she picked up the mug itself her hand shook enough to make it slop over the sides a little. Bonnie's breath hissed between her teeth as the hot tea hit her thigh and she hurriedly set it back down on the tray. "I'm all thumbs today." She laughed weakly.

"I came by to make sure you're okay." Elena said, her eyes on her friend. "So are you? You know, okay?"

"About as okay as anyone can be after being forced to drink vampire blood." Bonnie laughed bitterly, grabbing up a throw pillow and clutching it to her as she sat back on the couch.

"How are you feeling? I mean do you feel… different?"

"Different… yeah that's a good word for it." Bonnie muttered. "I feel… like I'm gonna jump out of my skin at any moment. It's like my senses are on overdrive… every little sound grates on my nerves, my clothes feel scratchy and irritating, I keep smelling things that aren't there… I feel like I'm losing my mind." Her eyes swung up to meet hers, dark and hopeless.

Elena reached out her hand but kept it hovering in the air, not wanting to cause Bonnie more distress since she was so sensitive at the moment. "It'll pass though, right? I mean the heightened senses should fade in time as long as you don't have more vampire blood."

"Maybe." Bonnie looked away, teeth worrying at her bottom lip. "If I last that long."

"Don't say that! Of course you'll make it through this." Elena's eyes widened in alarm. She looked so… broken.

"Yeah I know…" Bonnie gave her a sad little smile.

"I'm so sorry…"

"It's not your fault. Katherine came after me for her own reasons, it had nothing to do with you." A shake of the head was given.

"That reminds me, I've been meaning to ask you, why did you bar all vampires from my house and not just Katherine?"

"I'm sorry, I just thought it would be safer for you that way. Guess I was wrong, huh?" Her lips twisted into a rueful smile.

Elena cast about for something to say, fixing a smile on her face as an idea came to her. "You know what you need? A distraction. If your senses are on overload lets get them something really good to OD with, what do you say? Death by chocolate? Mint chip? Mud Pie? Name your poison."

"That idea might not be half bad." Bonnie's head tilted to one side as she considered it.

"Okay then, let's go. Or do you want me to go and pick some up and bring it back for you?" Elena rose to her feet.

Bonnie rose as well. "No it might be good to get out for a little while." She stiffened as a knock sounded at the front door. "Let me just get this." Flinging the door wide, Stefan stood on her front porch.

"Hey." He said simply, his eyes on Bonnie, not seeing Elena inside.

"Hey." Bonnie replied, staring back at him just as impassively.

"Stefan?" Elena called out in surprise as she spotted her boyfriend at the door. "What are you doing here?"

Stefan blinked, shifting focus to Elena. "Elena, I was… looking for you." He smiled.

"Here?" Elena's voice sounded skeptical to her own ears. Why wouldn't he have just called her if he was looking for her?

"I went by your place first. Jenna seemed to think you might be here so I came on by. Plus, I wanted to make sure Bonnie was okay." He gave her a tight smile.

"Oh…" That made sense… sorta. So why were her spidey senses tingling? Elena couldn't help but feel that there was a weird energy in the room but she didn't know the cause of it.

"I'm fine, really." Bonnie looked from one to the other, giving an approximation of her old smile.

"We were just gonna go get some ice cream, you wanna come?" Elena asked Stefan, dropping it for now. "Or was there something else you needed me for?"

"Ah…sure, that sounds like fun. No, I just wanted to see my girl." Stefan pressed a kiss to her temple. "That is unless Bonnie objects? I don't want to cut in on girl chat time." He smiled.

"No, it's fine. Actually… you know I think I might pass on a trip out after all." Bonnie changed her mind. "It's a little brighter out there than I thought it would be and… I think I'll just stick to the indoors for a bit."

"Aw… are you sure?" Elena frowned. "You want us to bring some ice cream back for you then?" She offered.

Bonnie shook her head. "Nah… maybe later. I think I might take a nap instead."

"You'll feel better soon, I promise." Stefan assured Bonnie, his voice low and comforting, watching her intently.

Something didn't sit right with Elena about this, but she wasn't sure what else to say. "Are you sure you don't want me to stick around? You could take your nap and then we could go and get that ice cream?" She tried again.

"No I'm fine, really. I was just feeling sorry for myself. I'll be much better after a nap, I'm sure of it. But I'll call you later, I promise."

"If you need… anything…" Stefan added earnestly.

"I know, I'll call." Bonnie gave him a faint smile.

"Let's go then." Stefan held his hand out to Elena expectantly.

After a moment's hesitation she twined her fingers with his. A final smile to Bonnie and they stepped out onto the porch into the late afternoon sunshine.

"How about that ice cream?" Stefan asked with a smile.

*** whoosh, whoosh, whoosh ***

It was early evening when they pulled in front of the boarding house. Elena's eyes flicked to the windows, wondering if Damon was at home. Lights were burning inside but that could mean anything. The next thing she knew Stefan was opening her door and offering his hand to help her alight from the vehicle. Smiling her thanks, she slipped her hand into his and stepped out, preceding him to the front door.

She'd been a little hesitant in accepting his invitation, but in the end Elena hadn't wanted to spend the evening at home alone; Jenna was out with Alaric. The moment she crossed the threshold she knew he was there, her feet carrying her into the living room both eager and dreading to see him again.

Damon's head came up when they entered, and he raised his drink to Elena, giving her a knowing look.

Elena flushed all the way to her toes, feeling in that instant that he must surely know about the dream… though how could he?

"So, what are you kids up to tonight?" Damon asked, taking a long swallow of scotch.

"Not much, just some long needed time together without anyone trying to kill us." Stefan replied.

"If you're lonesome for someone trying to kill you I'd be happy to oblige." Damon offered cheerfully.

"Do you mind… us hanging out here?" Elena interjected, hoping to stem the flow of any brotherly violence.

Damon gave a shrug. "It's a free country." He looked around for a moment. "It's still a free country, isn't it?"

Elena laughed, "Yeah it's still a free country. But we'll try to stay out of your hair."

"You can do anything you want to with my hair." Damon's eyes flashed playfully at her. "But you… had better not come near it, I don't want to take the chance of ending up with your hairstyle." He smirked at Stefan and his very tall coif.

Stefan looked annoyed with the entire exchange. "It's my house too, we'll go wherever we want." He declared, tugging Elena towards the couch opposite Damon, sitting down stubbornly.

Tumbling into the seat beside him, Elena looked from one brother to the other. Could this be any more awkward? Stefan's hand moved up and down her back in what she supposed was meant to be a soothing gesture, but she shifted away from his touch. "Ah Stefan, could I have something to drink? A glass of water maybe?"

"Of course, I'll be right back." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and rose, giving Damon a long look before he disappeared into the kitchen.

"Finally…" Damon snorted, moving at super fast speed to kneel before her, his hands on either side of her knees on the couch. "Did you miss me?" He purred.

The voice was too much like the one from her dreams and Elena sat a little farther back on the couch, drawing away from him. "Knock it off, he'll be back at any moment and he can probably hear you." She hissed.

"Unh uh, too much bambi blood dampens the senses, and I'll hear him coming a mile before he gets here." Damon insisted, his hands moving to the tops of her thighs. "I missed you last night."

Elena said nothing, remaining still but neither did she pull away any further.

"Did you think of me? You did, didn't you?" He smiled, his hands sliding along her jeans to rest on her hips.

"Damon please…" Her eyes slid shut, the combination of his hands and voice almost too strong to resist.

"That's what I like to hear." He dipped his head to steal a kiss.

This time she did pull away, her eyes flying wide at that brief press of lips. "I said stop it." She said a little louder, her gaze darting to the kitchen door.

Damon backed off, his jaw tightening a little before he smiled back at her. "Alright, I get it. Not the time with Saint Stefan in the other room." He allowed, pulling away and rising to his feet with one fluid motion. "But you know where my room is if you change your mind." He winked.

Stefan appeared in the doorway then, clearly having heard the last exchange and Elena wondered if Damon had designed it that way on purpose? "Come on Stefan, let's go to bed." Elena strode towards the stairs without waiting for a response.

Throwing a smug look in Damon's direction, Stefan followed her up without a word.

His face darkening, Damon poured himself another drink, but turned and hurled the cut crystal tumbler into the fireplace without taking a single sip.

*** whoosh, whoosh, whoosh ***

They moved together in the darkness, the only light coming in from the moon and stars outside the french doors of his bedroom.

Elena shifted beneath him, Damon's words echoing in her ears. _When you fall asleep tonight, it'll be me you'll dream of in your bed above you, my hands on your soft, silky skin, the taste of my mouth against yours, and my name on your lips the moment you find your sweet release._

As she opened her eyes, it was Damon's face that she saw above her, his body she felt against her skin, moving in perfect counterpoint to hers. Not interested in questioning it, Elena's eyes slid shut again, a smile curving her lips over the secret fantasy. The sensations he was wringing from her body caused her to gasp then, and it took everything within her not to cry out his name.

Her hands wended up to tangle in his dark hair and she looked up at him, her eyes half lidded with pleasure. With a start, she realized it was Stefan's face illuminated in the moonlight now and her rhythm faltered. Grateful for the darkness that hid her flush of embarrassment over the stumble, Elena tried to recover that same feeling, but something about the expression on his face…

As she watched, his face changed, the skin around his eyes crinkling and veiny, his teeth elongating as his head fell backwards.

Fear coursed through her at the rapid change, her hands pushing at his shoulders. "Stefan, please… don't…"

Instead of pulling away, Stefan seemed to enjoy her struggles, a demented laugh issuing from his throat.

Elena began to fight him in earnest, desperate to get him away from her even as his head descended to her throat. She thrashed against the sheets, her head whipping back and forth as she screamed impotently.

*** whoosh, whoosh, whoosh***

"Elena what is it? What's wrong?" Damon was at her side in a heartbeat, shirtless, his hair matted down on one side and sticking up on the other, he stared down at her, his face a mask of concern.

She startled awake, dazed and confused by the cold sheets next to her. Another dream? It had felt so real… but she realized she was wearing one of Stefan's big t-shirts where only moments before she'd been naked in her mind. "Where's Stefan?" She asked hoarsely.

"I thought he was in here with you. Elena, what happened?" His hands cupped the sides of her face, gently forcing her to look at him.

"It was just a dream." She dropped her gaze, not wanting to get into the details with him. "I don't understand though… where did Stefan go?"

His head turned to the open french doors letting in the warm night air. "He's not in the house." Damon said softly.

"I think I know where he went." Elena murmured, her eyes following his gaze. "Damon, can I borrow your car?

"You want me to take you? It'll be faster."

"No thanks, I have to do this on my own." She threw back the covers and pulled on her jeans, finding her shoes and slipping them on.

He didn't look very happy about it but Damon nodded finally. "Alright. He tossed the keys to her. But call me if you need me, okay?"

"I will." She gave him a strained smile.

**A/N: Just watched a rerun and was reminded that Damon can influence people's dreams, that inspired this chapter. Is anyone else ticked off that they're not showing the re-runs in order? I was missing the *whoosh, whoosh, whoosh* scene changes so I put those back in this time. Ok I've got my armor on… go ahead… tell me how you hate that they're not together yet… go for it. :P**

**Feedback is love people **


	18. Endings and Beginnings

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters****. BTW, has anyone else noticed stories missing and then reappearing on this site lately?**

"_I think I know where he went." Elena murmured, her eyes following his gaze. "Damon can I borrow your car?_

"_You want me to take you? It'll be faster."_

"_No thanks, I have to do this on my own." She threw back the covers and pulled on her jeans, finding her shoes and slipping them on. _

_He didn't look very happy about it but Damon nodded finally. "Alright. He tossed the keys to her. But call me if you need me, okay?" _

"_I will." She gave him a strained smile. _

The whole ride over to Bonnie's house Elena was praying that she was wrong about where Stefan was. Not especially religious by nature, nevertheless she found herself playing the 'bargain with God' game. _Please God, if you make this all be just my imagination I promise I'll go to church. I'll be a better person, I'll find Jeremy and make things up to him... Just make Stefan have gone on an innocent walk and I'll never let Damon touch me again…_

But as she pulled in across the street from Bonnie's place… it was impossible to miss Stefan's car parked right in front. "What the hell…?" Elena muttered, sitting in the darkened car, wondering what she was supposed to do next?

There were no lights on in the house. If Stefan _was_ inside, just what was he doing with Bonnie? There had definitely been a weird vibe going on between the two of them, but was he really cheating on her? There had to be some other kind of explanation to offer; maybe Bonnie was sick or hurt or needed help and he'd been in the area and…

Pulling herself together, Elena realized that the only way she was going to get any answers was to go and see for herself. Her steps were light and quick as she crossed the street at a near run, grateful that there were no streetlamps directly in front of Bonnie's house. As she approached the front porch, she wondered… if she knocked wouldn't that preclude her from finding out what she really needed to know? There was a chance that Stefan would hear her approaching anyway but the burning desire to find out the truth propelled her to lay a hesitant hand on the doorknob, trying an experimental turn.

The knob gave way, and with a light push the front door swung open with the barest of creaks. Elena froze at the faint sound, her heart thudding wildly in her chest as the adrenaline coursed through her system. This was it… she was officially breaking and entering now… _though the door was open, not really breaking…_ the thought slipped in absurdly as her foot crossed the threshold.

Though she more than suspected she'd find them upstairs, Elena forced herself to do a quick check of the first floor, making sure they weren't sitting innocently in the kitchen, bonding over tea and cookies. At finding the ground level empty, she started up the stairs, freezing every time the stairs made any kind of noise at all; certain she'd be caught at any moment. As she crested the stairs, Elena turned towards Bonnie's room, thinking that she heard a muffled sound coming from that direction.

Bracing herself for the worst, she was actually unprepared for what she found on the other side of the door.

Bonnie lay on the bed, clad in only her bra and panties, Stefan lay above her, his pale torso bare in the moonlight. As Elena watched, Bonnie moaned, her leg wrapping sinuously around his, nails raking at his back.

"Oh god…" Elena breathed, feeling physically sick to her stomach, but unable to look away.

Stefan's head came up, his eyes dark and dangerous, the skin around them crinkled and veiny. Fangs extended, blood dripped from his mouth as he snarled at the interruption, almost as though he didn't even recognize her.

"Elena… it's um… it's not what you think…" Bonnie supplied weakly, the back of her hand brushing against her lips.

"What are you… how…?" Elena was beyond words, her legs feeling like they might not support her for very longer, she stumbled backwards.

All at once Stefan seemed to regain his senses, his eyes shifting back to normal and his fangs retracting. "Elena…" His brows drew together as he seemed to try and think what he could possibly say to get out of this.

"No." Was all Elena could say, already backing out of the room. All she knew was that she had to get out of there, she couldn't stay in that room one moment longer. She got halfway down the stairs before Stefan caught up with her, still tugging on his shirt.

"Elena, you have to listen to me…"

"No, I don't actually." Elena kept walking, the open door a beacon in the darkened house.

"Elena please…"

She paused just in front of the door, turning to face him. "Please what? Forget that I just walked in on my boyfriend and my best friend in bed together? And not just screwing around together, as if that wasn't bad enough, you were feeding from her!" Elena gave a bitter laugh. "Go ahead, explain how it's not what I think it is, I'm waiting." Her arms crossed as she waited for his explanation. His expression was pained and she took a moment's pleasure in watching his squirm, the bastard…

His eyes dropped to her throat. "Forget…" He murmured, as if suddenly reaching an epiphany. "Elena… look at me." Stefan stepped forward, closing the distance between them, his eyes dilating as he exerted his influence over her.

Elena had barely an instant to recognize that she'd left off the vervain necklace in her rush to leave the boarding house, her eyes widening slightly in surprise before they became blank, sightless as she looked back at him.

"Now listen to me. Forget everything you saw from the time you entered this house." Stefan began in a low, soothing voice.

***back from commercial ***

"Elena!" Damon's voice was a husky growl as he met with the invisible barrier that kept him from entering Bonnie's house. Never before had he tried so hard to bypass the protection than when he spotted Stefan standing there, gazing intently into Elena's eyes. There were just a scant few feet away but it might have been a hundred miles for all the good he could do for her.

"Damon was here… he attacked Bonnie." Stefan continued, maintaining the eye contact.

"You son of a bitch…" Damon's fist slammed into the doorframe, shattering the wood into splinters.

"Damon attacked Bonnie…" Elena repeated in a monotone voice.

"I came and pulled Damon off of Bonnie and we fought. Damon is… dangerous and can't be trusted." Stefan continued.

"Dangerous…" Elena nodded.

"Elena! Look at me!" Damon called to her, but she gave no sign that she even heard him, her gaze transfixed on Stefan.

Stefan spared a brief glance to his brother before returning his concentration to Elena. "He's trying to trick you into trusting him, but… he'll stop at nothing to hurt you. He's the one who turned Jeremy."

Damon clutched at the side of the house, so filled with rage he couldn't see straight, but when he spoke, his voice was deadly calm. "They are gonna have to invent a word for what I'm going to do to you baby brother, I swear it."

A look of worry swept over Stefan's features, but he quickly masked it.

"Elena you must go home and wait for me, it's the only place you'll be safe. Don't let Damon in, I'll take care of him, when I do… run and take my car." He handed over the keys. "Do you understand me?"

"I understand." Elena nodded again, blinking when Stefan released her, a moment of confusion passing over her pretty features before her eyes lit upon Damon and they flew wide with terror. "Oh my God Damon… how could you?" She stared at him, taking an involuntary step backwards.

"Elena look at me, none of it's true, I was with you at the house, remember?" Damon pleaded with her, willing her to get close enough to exert his own influence over her and fix what Stefan had done.

"Don't look at him Elena, he's trying to trick you. Just get home." Stefan wrapped his arm around Elena's shoulders, drawing her to him in a comforting gesture before he stepped between them, as though he was protecting her.

Looking between the brothers, Elena quickly dropped her gaze, just then realizing that she didn't have her vervain necklace on and would be vulnerable to Damon's manipulations.

"She has to get past me to go home and I won't let you get away with this. What makes you think I won't just overwrite what you just did?" Damon snarled at Stefan, itching to get his hands on him. All he had to do was be patient. The moment he got Elena alone he could straighten all of this out and it would be just fine. But though he knew that on a rational level, it was hard not to want to tear Stefan's head off.

"You won't touch her!" Stefan growled, launching himself at Damon, the momentum carrying them both rolling off the porch and onto the lawn outside. "Run Elena, now!" He yelled as he pinned Damon down.

Keeping her eyes on the fighting brothers, Elena did as she was told, running to Stefan's car and peeling out as fast as she could.

"What makes you think you can keep me down." Damon's lips curved into a sneer.

"I'm onto human blood again, that makes me stronger. Isn't that what you wanted Damon? For me to embrace my true nature?" Stefan offered him a perversion of a smile.

"I never wanted _this_." Damon shook his head. "Besides, it might make you stronger, but it doesn't make you any smarter." Limbs moving so fast they blurred to the naked eye, Damon brought his knee up, catching Stefan at his most vulnerable point, shoving him off in the same movement, he rolled to a crouching position. "Say goodbye to Elena, there's no way she'll want you after this." He taunted his fallen brother.

"You won't do that." Stefan rolled to his side, face contorted with pain while he huddled in the fetal position.

"Did I shake your brains lose with that shot to the stones? That won't work on me genius, I'm a vampire." Damon stared down at him incredulously.

"You won't do it…" With great effort Stefan pushed himself up to a seated position. "Because it'll harm Elena and you won't do that, will you?"

That brought Damon up short, as it occurred to him that Stefan might just have a point. Too much compulsion had a tendency to short circuit someone's brain. Ordinarily he didn't give a crap about the damage that might be done, but with Elena… he'd have to tread carefully in order to keep her sensibilities intact. One wrong move and he could suppress more than just the memories Stefan had implanted. "I won't let her keep believing those lies you told her, she deserves to know."

"Why, because she deserves to be with you?" Stefan spat out, regaining his feet.

"Well duh, of course she does." Damon smirked, enjoying Stefan's discomfiture. "I've always known I was the better choice for her, this just makes it more… vivid." His eyes flashed. "You should have stayed down baby brother." He warned even as Stefan charged him full tilt.

Stefan might be stronger and faster now that he was drinking human blood again, but Damon had years of experience on him; skills learnt from living a far more interesting life than his brooding brother. While they might have been evenly matched in an arm wrestling competition, Stefan was no match for him in a fight.

Easily able to dodge the attack he'd known was coming, Damon used Stefan's momentum to throw him into a parked car, heavily denting the rear quarterpanel. Following up with a knee to the stomach, he grabbed Stefan by the hair and slammed his head onto the sidewalk once… twice… It was tempting to beat the bastard till his brains leaked out of his ears, but Damon didn't have the luxury of time at the moment. He had to get to Elena before she replaced the vervain necklace.

***** back from commercial… a/n: ok take a deep breath folks, I can fix this, I promise**! **But aren't you glad I didn't end it here on a cliffhanger? *****

Elena drove as fast as she dared, blowing through all traffic controls until she was parked in front of her house. Looking nervously over her shoulder, she ran for the front door, half expecting Damon to show up at any moment. There was a moment of elation as her hand closed over the doorknob, she was going to make it…

Arms clapped around her then, one around her waist and one around her mouth, smothering the scream that leapt to her lips.

"Shhhh, Elena it's just me." Damon tried for a soothing tone of voice but she just seemed to struggle all the harder against him. _Why couldn't things ever be easy?_ With a resolved sigh, he turned her in his arms, pressing her back against the house and trapping her with his body. "Elena look at me." He urged her, trying to catch her gaze.

Keeping her eyes squinched tightly shut, tears slipped silently from Elena's eyes as she prayed that Stefan would show up in time to save her. Only Damon had gotten there first, did that mean that Stefan was hurt or worse? A whimper escaped her at the thought of being left alone to Damon's whims.

The little scared whimper from Elena nearly undid Damon, but he managed to resist the urge to let her go, this was the only way to make things better. "Elena there's only one way to remove Stefan's compulsion for good without harming you. I need you to drink some of my blood."

Elena's eyes flew open in horror and Damon seized the advantage, immediately exerting his influence over her, just enough to capture her attention, leaving her memories alone for the moment. "I'm going to let go of you now, but you won't try to run away, just relax and this will all be over soon."

Staring back at him, Elena nodded faintly, her face going slack, the fear disappearing from her eyes.

Damon let go carefully, bringing his wrist to his mouth he pricked his skin open with his sharp fangs, feeling that burst of excitement even though it was just his own blood being spilled. "Now drink…" He commanded her.

"No…" The protest came from her even as she craned her head forward, bringing his wrist to her lips.

"Just a little bit Angel, there you go… take your medicine." Damon encouraged her, eyes sliding shut as he felt the gentle pull at his wrist. In another place, another time… he would have savored the sensation of her mouth drawing against his flesh. Even now he felt himself responding, the urge to bite her in return and complete the circle but he forced himself to focus for Elena's sake.

Tearing his wrist away when he felt she'd had enough, it took Damon a few moments to recover from the intimate act and center himself. "Ok look at me Elena, hear only my voice." He commanded her, gratified when she swung those lovely dark eyes up to meet his. "Think back to tonight's events. You left the house and what?" He prompted her.

"I went for a drive, I was worried about Stefan…"

"That's my good girl, and then what?"

"I… I don't know… you turned Jeremy…" Her eyes widened with fear.

"No, think Elena, Jeremy was turned the day before yesterday. You know that, you went to the hospital to get his body, remember?"

"With Alaric…" She nodded slowly.

"Right!" Elation swept through him as she accessed that bit of memory, the connection between them was working. "You remember, Jeremy overdosed after taking Anna's blood."

"You found the vial…"

"Yes!" Damon pressed his forehead against hers. "That's right, Angel. It wasn't me at all, and then Jeremy came to see you, he was with Katherine." He pulled back to focus on her eyes again.

"And you were mean, you wanted to kill me." Her brow crumpled at the memory.

"But it was a ruse…" Damon reminded her gently.

"Yes, all a trick… you killed Katherine because you love me."

Damon was silent for a moment, desires warring within him. Deciding not to cloud the issue for the moment he continued to prompt her with this train of thought. "Stefan took you home and then I came to see you."

"We kissed… but I couldn't…" Elena dropped her gaze.

"But you wanted to, you wanted me…" Damon couldn't help but press, not in compulsion to make it true but in order to get her to see the truth.

"Yes…"

A flash of triumph swept through him at that little admission from her own lips. "You came to the boarding house to be with Stefan." He continued.

"And to see you." She admitted without prompting.

His lips quirked into a smile but she kept talking. "But then Stefan was gone and I was so worried…"

"You drove to Bonnie's house."

"I did… but…"

"What did you see Elena? Who was there?" Damon worked to help her break through the barrier with the gentlest of pushes.

"You attacked Bonnie…"

"No, I wasn't in there, Bonnie hasn't invited me in to her house remember?" He could see the struggle on her face, tears welling again as she tried to come to terms with what was real and what was shadow. "Who was there?" Damon prompted gently.

"Stefan… he was on top of Bonnie… he was… the blood…" At the crack in the façade Stefan's compulsion came crashing down all at once, leaving Elena with her true memories of what had transpired. Shock and disgust colored her features as she tried to process it all and how she came to be there on the porch with Damon. "Oh God… Damon, he compelled me. He tried to make me think… how could he do that to me?" She began to weep in earnest.

"Shhh, come here." Damon gathered her into his arms tenderly, cradling her head to his chest. "He didn't want to lose you." He said simply. It was understandable, especially to someone like him who'd spent years making the worst kind of mistakes. Compelling someone was an easy out of dealing with the consequences.

"So that makes it okay? It's a pretty crappy thing to do to someone you're supposed to care about. Would you do the same to keep from losing me?" Elena sobbed.

Damon hesitated for a long moment before replying, lightly stroking her back in a comforting gesture. "No. Because I'd want it to be real." He answered finally, echoing the reasons why he hadn't compelled her before on their little road trip.

Elena seemed to accept his answer, her sobs quieting somewhat, though she still sniffed from time to time as he held her. "What am I going to do?" She asked.

"The first thing you should do is go put on that vervain necklace."

A broken laugh escaped her lips before she sobered, her body going tense as a thought occurred to her. "Bonnie… she's in danger! God only knows what he's compelled her to do by now…"

Damon had his doubts about the witch's involvement with Stefan but remained silent about them for the moment. "Do you want to go back there?" He asked, pulling back to get a look at her face.

"We have to, don't you think? We can't let him get away with hurting her." Elena nodded, swiping at her cheeks with the back of her hand.

A long drawn out sigh was given. "Okay, go get your necklace."

"Oh crap, it's back at the boarding house!" She remembered.

Damon frowned at that, there was no way he was letting her anywhere near Stefan without its protection. "Do you have anything else here with vervain in it?"

"I gave Jeremy a bracelet with vervain but I'm not sure where it is. I'm betting he's not wearing it now." She snorted.

"Let me in and I can find it."

Elena hesitated, still uncertain about inviting him into the house.

"Come on Elena, it's not a line so I can come in and scrub your back when you shower, not that I wouldn't mind doing that sometime." He smirked. "Please Elena, I just want to help you." Damon reached up to stroke the side of her face tenderly. "If there's vervain in the house I can find it a lot easier than you can. I would never hurt you, I promise."

"Come inside." She said simply, stepping backwards to push the door open.

Damon breathed a sigh of relief, his mood instantly buoyed the moment he stepped across the threshold. "Alright, let's find that bracelet and then I'll drive you back to Bonnie's myself." He clapped his hands together and rubbed them in anticipation.

"You're coming too?" Her brows climbed in surprise.

"I'm not letting you go up against him on your own, I take care of what's mine." He snorted as if that was blatantly obvious, already moving through her darkened house as he tracked the vervain.

**A/N: Ok I think we can officially call it the end of Stefan and Elena! Hip hip…**

**Feedback is love people **


	19. Confrontation

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**. **Thanks so much everyone who takes the time to share a comment or feedback, it brightens my day immeasurably and keeps me writing every day between this one and the Roadtrip fic. **

"_I'm not letting you go up against him on your own, I take care of what's mine." He snorted as if that was blatantly obvious, already moving through her darkened house as he tracked the vervain._

* * *

Elena was silent for the ride to Bonnie's, her hurt feelings hardening into anger as they sped through the night with Damon at the wheel of Stefan's car. For the moment she was just focusing on getting Bonnie back, getting Damon to undo whatever it was Stefan had done to her and if she was lucky; getting the chance to give Stefan a piece of her mind. The anger was safer; made her feel like less of a victim. More than anything she just wanted Stefan to know he hadn't gotten away with brainwashing her, and she would never be able to trust him again.

At least Damon was forthright about his faults, hell he even celebrated some of them; but you always knew where you stood with him. He didn't pretend to be something he wasn't. Well, except for that time he had pretended not to give a damn about her to throw Katherine off track...

It was interesting to note that she felt more _anger_ towards Stefan at his betrayal, versus the _hurt _she'd felt when she thought that Damon had been deliberately misleading her that entire time. No matter how she looked at it, Stefan should have known better. Elena might have been able to swallow a confession and an apology, but the compulsion… that was unforgivable.

The lights were still dark at Bonnie's house when they arrived, and Elena immediately bolted from the car the instant Damon put it into park. In a flash Damon was ahead of her, an indulgent look on his face as he waited for her to join him on the porch. "You know I can't protect you inside there don't you? Not unless Bonnie invites me in."

Elena gave a very unladylike snort. "Focus on your brother if you need someone to worry about. _I_ am not the damsel in distress right now."

"That's my girl." Damon smiled proudly, dodging out of her way as she took the steps two at a time. "Hey can I watch you take him apart? I've always thought he would look good flayed by the way, or there is the time honored bamboo skewers under the fingernails, especially torturous against us vampires." He grinned.

"I'm not gonna hurt him… much." Elena muttered, going right up the door and boldly trying the knob, frowning as she found it locked this time. "Bonnie!" She called out, pounding loudly on the door.

"Hey…" Damon caught her arm gently, keeping her from making such a racket. "Before you wake up all the neighbors, let me take a crack at it." Extending his senses, he listened to the house, his eyes popping open a moment later. "They're not here." He reported.

"I'm guessing they're at the boarding house then." Elena frowned, turning away from the door and walking back to the car, a pensive look on her face.

"My witch finder's on the blink, but I'm thinking that's an astute guess." Damon allowed.

Elena stopped just in front of the car, turning to face him. "Can't you… you know." She gestured with her fingers, sending them up into the air.

"What? Use spirit fingers?"

"Get us there faster? You know, pull that superman burst of speed?"

"Eager to get back into my arms again are you? Never let it be said I'm not happy to oblige." Damon chuckled, beckoning for her to move a little closer.

"What are you in such a good mood for?" She grumbled, walking back towards him.

"Are you kidding me? Stefan's outed as a manipulative jerk and I get to play hero and save the day? I'm in a _fantastic_ mood!" He grinned, sweeping her into his arms.

"Well I'm glad my betrayal can afford you some amusement. I just wish I could share your enthusiasm." Elena returned with a wry grin, holding tight to him as he took off, focusing on his profile as the scenery blurred around them.

"Hey I could offer you some stupid platitudes like _this too shall pass_… or _time heals all wounds_, yada, yada, yada. The point is, you'll live, you're stronger than you look."

"I am?" She regarded him with a measure of surprise. He thought she was strong? "Why, how strong do I look?"

"You look like a creampuff. A sweet… vulnerable… delectable… creampuff." Damon nuzzled against her hair as he spoke.

Elena pushed away the surge of longing that arose at that gentle touch; a wave of guilt assailing her in the same instant. Here she was charging across town full of righteous indignation when she herself had been having all manner of improper contact with Damon for a while now. Could she really blame Stefan for doing the same? Nevermind the fact that Stefan had all but abandoned her in the past few days, disappearing to god knew where… had he been with Bonnie that whole time? It was enough to make her skin crawl.

"You sure got quiet, creampuff." Damon murmured, and Elena realized that they had stopped.

"Oh… sorry." Elena tried to get her head back into the game. "Okay so what's the plan?" She whispered, letting go of him but staying close.

"Um… we walk in and I get to club Stefan with the nearest piece of furniture while you grab the witch?" Damon supplied cheerfully

"Works for me…" Elena nodded, wishing she had her own weapon for a little bit of clubbing action of her own.

They approached the stairs, the house eerily quiet, both of them unconsciously slowing their pace.

"How much you wanna bet he's got her upstairs in his bedroom." Damon whispered.

In the bed they'd shared? Ick. "Maybe you'd better go first, there are some things you just can't un-see and I don't want to be seeing them in the first place." Elena whispered back.

"What makes you think I want to see that either?" Damon frowned, turning to face her.

A light shrug of the shoulders was given. "Seems more up your alley, you're always lurking in the shadows watching people."

"Hey I don't lurk, I am not a lurker. I announce my presence with authority." His voice rose a little in volume, forgetting to be quiet.

"So why are you always there whenever I turn around?" Elena gave him a pointed look.

She had him there. "Come on, we've got work to do." Damon muttered, leading her inside to the bottom of the stairs. "I feel like I need a stake and a mallet, or at least one of those big silver crosses for going vampire hunting." He smirked.

"Wouldn't a cross hurt you too?"

"Nah, crosses don't have any effect on us, that's just a superstition."

"Besides, I don't want to kill him, I just want to hurt him a little." Elena's expression was fierce.

"That's my girl." Damon flashed his pearly whites in the darkened house.

*** back from commercial***

There was no way to safeguard Elena from the sight of Bonnie and Stefan asleep in his bed, their limbs entwined, not if she expected to actively help. She paused for a few moments just watching them together in the bed that she'd gone to sleep in earlier that night. God had it really been the same night? So much had been happening lately, her sense of time was completely off.

Damon lounged against the doorframe, letting her take the lead on this one, but ready to leap into the fray the instant he might be needed.

Tiptoeing over to Bonnie's side, Elena laid her hand on her arm to gently shake her awake.

Stefan's eyes popped open at the movement, his arms tightening protectively around Bonnie until he realized who it was.

"Elena…" He gaped, dropping Bonnie like a hot potato and sitting up on the bed. "Thank god you're here, please, you have to let me explain." He began.

"Why so you can compel me again?" Her eyes glittered like wet stones. "There's nothing you have to say that I care to listen to. I'm not here for you."

"Elena…" Stefan tried again, hopping out of bed, he grabbed her arm to get her to look at him.

The moment Damon saw Stefan start to move towards Elena, he was across the room, pinning Stefan against the bed before he had a chance to draw another breath. "Ah, ah, ah… that's not how we treat a lady, mother would not approve." He smirked.

Flashing Damon a grateful smile, Elena turned her attention back towards her friend. "Come on Bonnie, it's safe to leave now." She held her hand out to the witch.

"No, I'm not going with you." Bonnie shook her head, clutching the sheet to her chin.

Elena moistened her lips, approaching her carefully, god only knew what lies Stefan had filled her head with. "Bonnie… it's okay, I know you're not thinking clearly. Stefan used his compulsion on you to make you think you want to be here with him." She tried to explain.

"No, he didn't."

"I know it feels that way, it feels like this is real…" Elena had been overwhelmed with how real it had felt when Stefan had altered her perceptions, it was scary to think of the sway he had held over her.

"I didn't compel her." Stefan insisted, trying to twist out of Damon's grip.

After a moment's consideration, Damon let him up, he wanted to see his expression when this all went down.

"Like I'd believe anything you have to say." Elena retorted bitterly.

"Elena…" Bonnie hesitated. "I really wish none of this had happened but…" Guilt was written all over her features.

"Wait… so the two of you… how long has this been going on?" Elena wasn't sure whether to feel sick, hurt or angry, her rapidly shifting emotions roiled within.

"Tonight was the first night, I swear." Bonnie's hands came up in a supplicating gesture.

Like that made it any better… "I just don't get it… you're saying you let him bite you, on purpose?"

"I don't expect you to understand it, or to ever forgive me but ever since Katherine forced her blood into me… it's like I have a craving for it… I've never felt anything like it…"

"So if this is just about the blood… why are you guys in bed together?" Elena pressed.

"Exchanging of blood can be… a fairly intimate undertaking." Damon supplied. Elena gave him a sharp look. "What? I'm just saying…" He took a step back under the assault of her gaze.

"And you're… okay with this? Letting him bite you in exchange for drinking his blood in return?"

Bonnie gave a short nod, not meeting Elena's eyes.

Elena looked up at Stefan, her face as calm of a mask as she could manage. I want to talk to you. Alone."

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Damon interjected, shifting his stance uncomfortably.

Looking up to meet Damon's gaze, her calm façade flickered for a moment before she smoothed it away. "He can't hurt me any more than he already has."

"Why does that not make me feel any better about this?" Damon muttered.

*** back from commercial ***

"I appreciate the chance to talk to you, to try and make some sense out of all of this." Stefan said softly, shutting the door.

"I'm not sure how you can after what you did to me tonight." Elena answered honestly.

"It's not anything that I planned… it just happened."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

"It was just too much to think about, losing you this way, I was just trying to buy myself some time, to find some way to fix this…" He hung his head miserably, unable to meet her gaze.

"There's no way to fix that kind of damage to trust. Sometimes when you push too hard there's no more give, it just breaks." Elena replied, her face solemn before she swallowed, forging ahead. "But I think you should know I haven't been completely blameless in all of this."

"No, none of this is your fault Elena." He interjected, taking a step towards her.

"Just… let me get this out." She took an equal step backwards, staying him with her hands. "Things between us have been strained for a little while now and I can't place all the blame on your doorstep. I haven't been completely honest with you either."

"If you're saying this just to hurt me… to get me back for Bonnie…"

"I'm not trying to cause you pain Stefan, I just thought you deserved to hear it from me." A shrug of the shoulders was given.

"Hear what?" Stefan's brows drew together pensively.

Elena took a deep breath. "I have feelings for Damon." She waited to see his reaction, part of her hoping perversely that it hit home.

He gave a bitter laugh. "I know that Elena, I've known it for quite some time."

It was her turn for her brows to draw together but surprise and confusion ruled her expression. "But… how did you… what do you mean quite some time?" Hell she'd only just figured it out a couple of days ago.

"I could see that connection between you strengthening, I had only hoped that our connection was stronger. I guess I was wrong." There was heavy sorrow in his voice and Elena found that she took no pleasure from it.

"It didn't have to be this way though. I would have stayed with you, worked through this, found a way to make that connection stronger again, I owed you that much at least." She replied. "You didn't have to turn to Bonnie because you felt I was slipping away."

A shake of the head was given. "I don't want you to be with me because you feel like you owe it to me Elena. Not that it matters now." Stefan let out a long, drawn out sigh. "And that's not why I turned to Bonnie. I was… protecting you."

A hysterical laugh bubbled forth from her lips at that one. "Protecting me? Are you seriously that delusional?"

"No, you are." Stefan's eyes blazed. "I'm not the knight in white shining armor, I never have been. It's impossible to live up to the standards that you laid at my feet, Elena. I am… a monster, a killer by nature. I've done things… that I can't even bear repeating in your presence. Things that I carry with me, buried deep no matter how hard I try to forget about them."

Elena recoiled from the self loathing that spilled from him, his eyes tortured and almost a little mad with self recrimination.

"When I tasted your blood… something inside me snapped. Like you said, you can only push something for so long before it breaks… I've been broken this whole time, I just didn't want to admit it. I tried to go back to the way things were before but…"

"Have you been drinking human blood this whole time?" Elena's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Not the whole time." He answered, sounding dejected. "I really tried to make it work, I swear I did Elena. But I knew it wouldn't last. So when Bonnie offered…"

"She approached you?" Elena's eyebrows climbed skyward.

"She was going through roughly the same kind of thing, she needed my blood to make the cravings go away. I thought if I could find a way to control it, like Damon does… I could somehow manage to find some kind of balance."

"Why didn't you just tell me? I could have helped you." They could have avoided all of this, or were they already doomed?

"Because I didn't want to see the look in your eyes that I'm seeing right now." Stefan sat down on the edge of the bed.

"You put that look there Stefan. I might have been able to help you get through this, maybe even have understood about Bonnie…" Though it was a huge stretch of the imagination how she could have come to forgive that. "But to have taken away my free will… after knowing how much it hurt Jeremy even when it was done with the best of intentions… I can't ever trust that you wouldn't do that to me again." Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes and she swiped them away with the cuff of her shirt. "It's over."

"I know." He looked up then and she saw the tears mirrored on his face. "For what it's worth, I loved you, I still do."

"I know." Elena nodded, her face crumpling as she took a step backwards. "I loved you too, part of me still does." She admitted. "I just can't be around you anymore." Without another word she slipped from the room, tears falling in earnest as she ran down the hallway and straight into Damon's chest. Raising her eyes to his, she knew with absolute certainty that he'd heard every single word they'd exchanged. "Don't say a word, not a single word." The last thing she wanted was some kind of smarmy quip or dig about her still having some leftover feelings for Stefan after what he'd done or for admitting that she felt something for Damon, not now.

His face solemn, Damon simply gathered her into his arms, holding her close to his chest. In the blink of an eye he had her out of there, moving through the velvet night to take her someplace she would feel safe.

**A/N: Now that we've got a little bit of closure there, I can circle back to some of the other characters, get in some of what they've been up to, especially Jeremy who a lot of people have been asking about. Plus I can't just leave Jenna hopped up on valium for too much longer, she'll factor in soon as well. And of course… bring on the love games!**

**Feedback is love people **


	20. Reunion

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**.

**Thanks for the great reviews as always. To those few bloodthirsty fans who thought that Stefan got off too easy, I leave you with this; nothing I could have done to him will be worse than the misery he'll be in at seeing his girl with Damon and knowing he's the one that drove her into his arms. **

**Sorry for the little bit of a delay between updates, had to knuckle down and write a synopsis for the new book (which I hate doing with a fiery passion!). :P Now back to the fun stuff!**

"_I know." He looked up then and she saw the tears mirrored on his face. "For what it's worth, I loved you, I still do."_

"_I know." Elena nodded, her face crumpling as she took a step backwards. "I loved you too, part of me still does." She admitted. "I just can't be around you anymore." Without another word she slipped from the room, tears falling in earnest as she ran down the hallway and straight into Damon's chest. Raising her eyes to his, she knew with absolute certainty that he'd heard every single word they'd exchanged. "Don't say a word, not a single word." The last thing she wanted was some kind of smarmy quip or dig about her still having some leftover feelings for Stefan after what he'd done or for admitting that she had feelings for Damon, not now._

_His face solemn, Damon simply gathered her into his arms, holding her close to his chest. In the blink of an eye he had her out of there, moving through the velvet night to take her someplace she would feel safe. _

* * *

Not many people would think of a graveyard as a place of safety or peace, but when Elena opened her eyes, she was actually comforted that Damon had brought her there. How did he know that she liked to come there and spend time at her parents' graves?

"Are you cold?" Damon asked, starting to take off his black leather jacket

"No… I'm okay." She gave him a faint smile, tucking her hair behind her ears as she looked around the deserted graveyard. It was a mild summer night, no eerie fog, no dismal rain or drizzle; but for the headstones they could be in a park.

Damon finished taking off the jacket and laid it across her shoulders anyway, his expression inscrutable.

"Thanks." Her smile brightened a little at the gesture.

"No worries." He shrugged it off but Elena laid a hand on his arm.

"No really, thank you." Elena insisted.

"For what?" His head canted to one side.

"I don't even know where to start. Things have been so crazy, but you've been looking out for me at every turn, and in case it wasn't clear before. Thank you." Elena gave his arm a little squeeze.

"It was nothing." Damon dropped a quick wink.

"It's not _nothing_, going against your brother…"

Damon snorted, interrupting her. "Are you kidding? That was the fun part." He grinned.

"Okay, Katherine then…"

His expression sobered a little. "She had it coming. Not just for you, but for lots of things."

Elena gave a slow nod, sitting beside him in companionable silence for a while. "So what now?"

"Now?" Damon brought a hand up to lazily rub her back in a comforting manner. "We leave all of that… crap behind us and get on with our lives."

"It's gonna be weird next year, seeing Bonnie and Stefan at school together. Unless he doesn't come back to school, it's not like he needs the education." She pointed out.

"Yeah I gotta admit, seeing your ex and your BFF together does kinda blow. Imagine what it's like to see that with your own brother." He pretended to shudder.

"Speaking of brothers… Jeremy's out there somewhere doing god knows what. I used to worry about him before when he was just a stupid teenager looking to get high or cut school, can you imagine what kind of trouble he could be getting into right now?"

"As cheesy as this sounds, you're not your brother's keeper Elena. You can only control your own actions, you gotta let him make his own mistakes."

"Yeah but his own mistakes could get someone killed."

"You don't know that. He wasn't a bad kid, he might find he doesn't have the stomach for actual violence now that he's on his own."

"He seemed plenty violent the last time I saw him." Elena winced at the memory, her hand going to her throat.

"In his defense, he was being goaded by Katherine, that's a pretty potent thing."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience there." Elena looked over at him, his silence speaking volumes.

Finally Damon laid his hand on her shoulder. "Give him some time, he'll either come around or he won't. Either way I'll be there to look out for you."

Elena couldn't help but smile a little at that. "You know I don't need a constant guard, I am capable of taking care of myself."

"Yeah I know, but I can't help it. You've got me all… domesticated." Damon gave a grimace of distaste.

Laughter bubbled out of her at the look on his face. "What like a golden retriever or something?"

"Or something." He smirked. "Come on, I should get you home, I'm ready to bite the bullet." Damon rose to his feet and held his hands out to her.

"Taking me home is so awful?" Her brows raised, placing her hands in his.

"Not that, just you know… the whole chick thing that's coming. Ice cream, sweatpants, weeping for no discernable reason over commercials…."

Elena blinked at him, not quite sure what he was talking about as she gained her footing.

"Just try not to let yourself go too much, a guy doesn't like it when a girl's got a huge caboose." He deadpanned.

"Jesus Damon…" Elena punched him in the arm as hard as she could, knowing it couldn't possibly hurt him but it made her feel better.

"What?" Damon didn't even flinch at the punch.

A smile crept back onto her lips at the innocent look on his face. "Don't worry, I won't subject you to the mourning process if you're offended." She shook her head, starting to walk back towards her house. Of course normally she'd be crying over her ice cream with Bonnie… and Caroline was still in the hospital… maybe Jenna would be up for a good cry fest soon? _My Girl_ always made her bawl like crazy when the little boy died.

"I'm just saying…" Damon tried again, falling into step beside her.

"You're a real catch, you know that?" Elena smirked, smacking the back of her hand against his abs playfully.

Damon intercepted the arm before it made contact, bringing the back of her hand up to his lips. "Of course, but do you?" He grinned, kissing her hand softly.

*** back from commercial ***

Neither of them were in a rush to get her home, so they walked, chatting idly about this and that or lapsing into companionable silence. They paused at the door as they noted the lights on in the kitchen, despite the late hour.

"Uh oh, either Jenna's date with Alaric went really well or really awful." Elena frowned, opening the door. "Would you mind… coming in for a minute?" She looked up at him.

Damon pretended not to acknowledge the rush of pleasure that simple question afforded him. If she hadn't invited him in, he would have been outside listening until she settled down to sleep in any case. "Yeah sure, if you want." He tried for a careless shrug, stepping in behind her and shutting the door. "Hold on…" A frown tugged at his lips as he sensed something… off. Keeping Elena behind him, he headed straight for the kitchen.

Undeterred, Elena followed right behind, her attention shifting back and forth from Damon's worried face to the kitchen ahead.

Both paused in the doorway to the kitchen, as Jeremy sat at the table with Jenna, a bottle of tequila between them.

"Elena! Pull up a chair, we're doing shots." Jenna called out blearily, a big smile on her face and an oozing bitemark on her neck.

"Jenna…" Elena started to rush forward but Damon barred her from moving, his expression fixed on her brother.

"So, the prodigal son has returned or some crap like that huh?" Damon smirked. "Just feel like blowing back in for a drink with the fam?"

Jeremy ignored Damon's question, pouring himself another shot of tequila and bringing it to his lips, he didn't meet anyone's gaze.

"Whoa… talk about the downer police…" Jenna giggled, "Come on you guys, Jeremy's home! Time to celebrate!" She tossed back another shot of alcohol as soon as he placed it in front of her.

"Jenna… are you okay?" Elena asked hesitantly, keeping back for the moment.

"Well yeah, I'm better than okay. Shouldn't I be? Boy you guys are so grumpycakes…" Jenna made an exaggerated frowny face.

"Jer, what did you do to her?" Elena demanded, her eyes narrowing at her vampire brother.

"Relax Elena, she's fine. I had a little drink and then she had a little drink, it's a regular party." When Jeremy looked up, he looked like anything _but_ in a party mood, his eyes dark and haunted.

"What are you doing here?" Elena insisted.

"That's not a very nice greeting for your little brother, what happened to family first?" Jeremy stared at her accusingly.

"You tell me, you're the one who keeps attacking this one." She bit back.

"Harsh." Jeremy sat back in the chair. "What's the big deal? She won't remember anything in the morning." He gave a lazy shrug.

"How can you ask that? Can't you see what you're doing to her? To me? You fed off of your own Aunt!" Elena was practically shaking with anger over Jeremy's betrayal to her and on Jenna's behalf.

"Are you offering instead? What do you say Damon, feeling like sharing?" Jeremy bared his teeth at Elena.

"Alright that's enough." Without even bothering to use super speed, Damon grabbed Jeremy by the scruff of his neck and shoved him outside, pulling the door shut behind them.

"What the hell man?" Jeremy whined, his eyes going dark, fangs descending. "I wasn't gonna hurt her."

"Knock it off." Damon cuffed him negligently, sending Jeremy sprawling onto the lawn.

"What makes you think I won't end you?" He asked, smacking him back down the instant Jeremy started to rise. "You may think you're a big badass vampire now, but you are lower than the shit stuck on my shoes. I've gone up against vampires twice my age and won, and I can squash you in my sleep, you get me?"

Jeremy looked like he was considering saying something back but thought better of it, instead dropping his gaze to the ground.

Damon stepped back, his posture easing. "Look, I could care less what you do. You wanna go on a killing spree, super. But do it somewhere else."

"You're not the boss of me…"

A pained expression crossed Damon's features, had the little puke really just said that? "Really? That's your comeback?" He shook his head disgustedly. "You might have gotten a moment's consideration when Katherine was alive but let's get one thing straight." In one swift movement he grabbed Jeremy by the front of his shirt and hauled him to his feet. "You do one single thing to upset that girl in there and I won't hesitate to show you what real death feels like, are we clear?" He smiled, his face very close to his.

Jeremy nodded, slumping to the ground as Damon released him. "I don't… I don't want to leave." Jeremy replied, sitting down on the damp grass, looking utterly defeated.

"Stay, go… makes no difference to me, but you'd better be on your best behavior when you're around Elena and that extends to anyone Elena cares about."

"It's not what I thought it would be." Jeremy added morosely. "I can't… make it work. The no emotion thing makes me feel… dead, like there's nothing inside unless I'm feeding. How can you stand it?"

Damon shrugged. "I embraced it… for a long, long time I chased that feeling and that's all there was. I chased after the dream of Katherine, hoping she'd wake up that part of me that felt love again. But in the end it wasn't her that did it, it was Elena."

"I don't have anyone, not anymore." Jeremy murmured.

"Yes you do, Jer." Elena appeared at the door, stepping outside. "We're here for you if you want us to be, we can help you get control of this, can't we Damon?" Her eyes beseeched him for help.

A roll of the eyes was given. "Yeah, I can show you the ropes if you want, a little Vampire 101." Damon agreed reluctantly. "But remember what I said." He cautioned Jeremy.

Jeremy brightened instantly, "Yeah no I got it, we're cool." He nodded at Damon.

"One of us is…" Damon muttered.

*** back from commercial ***

Jenna tucked in bed and Jeremy restored to his bedroom, Elena returned to her bedroom to find Damon lying casually atop her bed.

"Comfy?" She raised a brow at him.

"Almost." Damon patted the bed beside him, a wolfish grin on his face.

Elena gave him a pointed look. "Hey it's been a crazy… messed up day. Don't you think you should head on home and get some rest?"

"You don't seriously think I'm leaving you here with a baby vampire next door do you?" He scoffed, making no move to budge from her bed. "Come on, you're not gonna make me sleep out in the hall are you?" Guard dog was not something he enjoyed playing, but he'd do it to keep her safe.

"You don't seriously think you're sleeping in her with me tonight, do you?" Her brows climbed.

"Well uh… yeah? Why not? It's not like we haven't slept in the same bed before, nothing scary happened did it?" Damon wiggled his fingers to punctuate the word 'scary'. "Unless… you're afraid of your growing feelings for me." Oh he liked the sound of that…

"I'm not in the mood to do this tonight Damon." Elena sighed tiredly, pulling back the covers to climb into bed.

"That's okay, I'm perfectly willing to wait till you wake up in the morning, should I set the alarm?" He grinned, snapping off the lights and climbing in beside her after kicking off his shoes.

Elena froze, going very still as he settled in beside her. "Damon… please don't rush me, that's not how I want to start this…"

But she _did_ want to start it, the implication was there and Damon seized on that triumphantly, but it did chafe a little that she didn't seem to want him there now. "Hey," He said softly. "I want you, you want me, Stefan's out of the picture, what's holding you back?"

She was silent for a long moment before she responded. "I want more. Can you understand that? Can't we just take this a little slower?"

She wanted more? What did she expect, hearts and roses? Undying professions of love? The idea made him feel slightly queasy and his temper snapped. "How slow do you want to take this? We've already been moving at a snail's pace, any slower and we'll go backwards." He muttered between gritted teeth. How much more of this did she expect him to take?

"How can you say that? I _just_ broke up with Stefan, I still need to process that, figure out how I feel about… things."

Him. She needed to figure out how she felt about _him_, message received loud and clear. Damon realized that his impatience had gotten the better of him, and he'd blown it with Elena for that night. He was silent for a while, trying to decide how best to recover. "I'm sorry." Damon said finally, knowing from the sound of her breathing that she was still awake. "I'm just… you make me a little crazy sometimes, in a good way."

Her lips curved into a smile in the darkness. "You make me a lot crazy sometimes." She replied.

"In a good way?" He asked in a small voice, watching her profile in the uncertain light.

Elena turned over, pulling the covers up a little higher. "Yeah, in a good way." She said finally, her eyes slipping closed.

Damon watched her until the slow steady rhythm of her heart convinced him that she'd fallen asleep. Deep within the recesses of his mind an idea caught hold like a tiny flame, fanning into a regular blaze the longer he thought about it. She wanted to step back and take things slow? He could do that. The look on her face would be worth it. A smile crept back onto his lips as he closed his eyes, it would definitely be worth it.

**A/N: Three guesses what Damon has planned up his sleeve…**

**Feedback is love people **


	21. Gentleman Caller

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**.

**Thanks for the great reviews as always. Hearts and confetti go to ****annanr who guessed correctly what Damon has in mind. **

_Him. She needed to figure out how she felt about him, message received loud and clear. Damon realized that his impatience had gotten the better of him, and he'd blown it with Elena for that night. He was silent for a while, trying to decide how best to recover. "I'm sorry." Damon said finally, knowing from the sound of her breathing that she was still awake. "I'm just… you make me a little crazy sometimes, in a good way."_

_Her lips curved into a smile in the darkness. "You make me a lot crazy sometimes." She replied._

"_In a good way?" He asked in a small voice, watching her profile in the uncertain light._

_Elena turned over, pulling the covers up a little higher. "Yeah, in a good way." She said finally, her eyes slipping closed. _

_Damon watched her until the slow steady rhythm of her heart convinced him that she'd fallen asleep. Deep within the recesses of his mind an idea caught hold like a tiny flame, fanning into a regular blaze the longer he thought about it. She wanted to step back and take things slow? He could do that. The look on her face would be worth it. A smile crept back onto his lips as he closed his eyes, it would definitely be worth it._

* * *

The doorbell rang and Elena unfolded herself from her perch on the couch, padding barefoot to the front door. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of Damon, elegantly dressed, the lines of his custom tailored suit accentuating his well built form; a charming smile on his lips. Ever since Jeremy had moved back home again he'd been around more often than not, but usually he just appeared at her window instead of formally gaining entrance. She felt horribly underdressed by comparison in her shorts and t-shirt. Was he expecting to take her out tonight?

"Good evening Miss Elena, you look lovely as ever." He sketched a half bow, offering her a small posy of flowers.

It irked her a little that he'd just made this assumption that she'd be free and willing to go out with him without asking, but she accepted the little bouquet, lifting it to her nose out of habit. "Damon… wow. You're all dressed up. I ah, wasn't planning on going out tonight…"

His polite smile shifted to a smirk. "I'm not here to see you. Will you please inform your Aunt Jenna that she has a gentleman caller?" Damon asked, a gleam in his eye.

A flash of jealousy went through her. "You have a date with Jenna?" Elena demanded incredulously. Would Jenna even go out with him? She'd seemed pretty happy with Alaric, but she'd also been compelled one time too many lately, maybe she was starting to develop a thing for Damon now? And she had been keeping Damon at arms length since her break-up with Stefan…

Another smirk was given. "No, I'd like to have a talk with her if you don't mind. You're letting in flies by the way." He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. A gold wrapped box emblazoned with the name "GODIVA" was tucked under his other arm.

"What's going on?" Elena pressed, her brows drawing together as she tried to figure out what he was up to.

"Oh you know the usual; flowers, chocolates, promises I don't intend to keep..." Damon leaned casually against the doorframe.

"Huh?" She wasn't tracking him, the flowers were for her but the chocolates were presumably for Jenna, but he wasn't going on a date with Jenna… it completely eluded her what the promises would be and why he didn't intend to keep them…

"I'm here to ask permission to court you." He said simply, taking pity on her confusion.

"To court me?" Her brows climbed a mile; was he serious? "And you're here to see Jenna to ask for her permission?"

"She is your oldest living relative, unless you count Isobel, but she's not really alive; or Alaric as a sort of step-dad, but that's getting a little weird."

"To court me…" Elena repeated, not quite sure if that meant the same thing to him now as it would have a hundred and fifty years ago. Back then courting would have led to an engagement and marriage if all things were agreeable, somehow she had never seen him as the serious relationship type. He wasn't the serious anything type.

A half shrug was given. "Well I'm not going to be a slave to the convention. My version of courting involves trying to seduce you shamelessly of course." His eyes flashed with mischief.

"Somehow I never thought that courting and seduction went hand in hand." That sounded like the Damon she'd grown to know and…

"Hey, trying to get the object of your affection into a compromising position is a time honored tradition." Damon insisted, pushing away from the doorframe and advancing on her slowly.

She couldn't help but laugh at that, taking an involuntary step backwards. "Yeah well I'm not going to be ruined if we're discovered in a room together with the door closed without a chaperone."

"Not even if it's your bedroom?" He waggled his brows at her, taking another step closer.

"It'll be more like I'm grounded, not ruined. It's not like Jenna's gonna insist that I marry you on the spot. She's more likely to come after you with a baseball bat." Oh she'd said marry, and she hadn't intended to… was that what his intention was with all this talk of compromising her?

"I can always fix that…"

"No! You stay out of her head for now or she's gonna end up a drooling idiot. It's bad enough you have to keep going in to fix things whenever she starts to wonder why she can't tell anyone that Jeremy lives here again or what happened to Uncle John…" It was a miracle that Jenna had seemed to keep her personality intact so far; or perhaps a testament to Damon's power.

Damon continued his advance, backing her up against the stairway banister. "I could always remove all of the compulsions and you could try explaining things to her the old fashioned way. You might be surprised at how she handles it." He suggested.

"No… things are finally starting to settle down, let's just leave them as they are. Upsetting Jenna is that last thing I want to do right now, so please… if you do have to talk to her just… be nice."

"I get that." His voice softened as he reached up to lightly stroke her cheek. "That's why I'm here, to show you just how nice I can be." He leaned a little closer and for a moment she thought he was going to try to kiss her again but then he stepped back. "So kindly inform your Aunt that I seek an audience with her at her convenience." Without waiting for a response, Damon moved into the living room and took a seat at the end of the couch.

*** back from commercial ***

Damon enjoyed Elena's discomfiture, waiting patiently for Aunt Jenna to emerge while Elena went upstairs to fetch her. Having overcome Katherine's compulsion, Jenna didn't seem to bear any lasting enmity to him any longer, so he was hoping to have his petition met with a bit of surprise and possibly amusement, but no real resistance.

Jenna appeared at the stairs a few minutes later, her expression much as he had expected. Damon immediately rose to his feet, placing charming smile #4 on his lips. "Good evening Miss Jenna." He again gave that little elegant half bow. "Thank you for seeing me without an appointment."

"Yeah…" Jenna approached him hesitantly. "Elena said you wanted to talk to me about dating her?"

"Courting her, there is a difference." Damon corrected her with a polite nod, handing over the box of chocolates.

"Oooookay." Jenna took a seat at the other end of the couch, watching him suspiciously. "I hate to break it to you Stud, but it's up to her who she goes out with."

Damon waved away the concern. "I know, and I'm confident enough in her feelings for me that I know she'll accept my invitation."

"Sounds like you have this all figured out. So why are you here to talk to me exactly if you're so sure about how she feels?"

Damon considered that for a moment before answering. "Because… even though I know how Elena feels, _she_ doesn't know yet. Or at least she hasn't been ready to admit it yet, and I need to show her… that I can be what she wants me to be."

"And you think you know what she wants you to be?" A single brow was raised.

"I think so." Some of his confidence waned for just a moment before his natural cockiness reasserted itself. "I just need the chance to prove it to her."

"Alright then." Jenna said, rubbing her hands briskly together. "Since you're coming here to seek my blessing, what are your intentions?" She asked a little formally, clearly enjoying being in this position of authority.

Damon fought the wolfish grin that threatened to surface, instead offering another charming smile in its place. "My intentions are honorable… for the most part."

Jenna laughed at that. "At least you're honest. So when you say honorable… you want to take her out, put her at ease, get her to realize that you're her one and only main squeeze… and then what?"

"That all depends on Elena. I can be patient." He replied with more confidence than he felt. At some point his patience would snap as it had the other night, but he was hoping for the best. Given the right circumstances, he was sure he could make Elena see that he would never intentionally hurt her, not anymore. Somewhere in the middle of things he'd fallen in love with her, but words were cheap. He could say that till the cows came home, the only way to get her to understand it and believe it was to show her how much she meant to him.

She stared at him a long moment before giving him a brisk nod. "Okay then, you have my permission to court Elena. But if you hurt her…" A finger came up in warning. "I will personally make it my life's mission to hunt you down and cut off all the protruding parts of your body. You got me?"

"Graphic." Damon murmured, his hands coming up in supplication. "I get you loud and clear, you've got nothing to worry about, I promise. Believe me, I've spent way too much time and effort trying to keep Elena safe from… things, I've no intention of deliberately hurting her."

"Well okay…" Jenna rose to her feet. "Elena you can stop eavesdropping and come back down now!" She called out on her way to the kitchen.

Damon's eyes flew to the stairs, he could hear Elena hesitating up there, trying to decide whether or not she would come down after Jenna had blown her cover. "Come and say goodnight to me. Or I'll have to come up…" He called out for good measure.

Elena appeared on the stairs then, her cheeks bearing a slight stain of embarrassment. "Did you really mean all that stuff you said to Jenna?"

"Why would I lie?" Damon challenged, leaning against the banister.

"Because you want to get into my pants?"

"As tempting of an idea as that sounds, it wasn't my main motivation, no." Damon grinned, glad to see she was feeling up to a little verbal sparring. That was a good sign, none of that damned depression from Stefan's betrayal.

Elena's head tilted to one side as she studied him skeptically. "No? What are you trying to get into then?"

Damon moved to block her path at the bottom of the stairs, the steps giving her a slight height advantage now. "What do you want me to say Elena? Your heart? I'd have to stake myself to keep from gagging. I'm already on sugar overload enough as it is from all of this talk. Let's just say… that I want more too. More of you than you were willing to give to anyone before."

"Oh that's _all_." Elena snorted, coming to stop right in front of him. "And what do I get in return?" She asked archly.

"I should have thought that would be obvious." His smile turned predatory, but instead of pressing further, he simply caught up her hand and brushed his lips over the satiny smooth skin. "Good night Miss Elena. It was a pleasure to see you, as always."

Elena stared back at him, at a loss for words for the second time that night. What was he up to exactly with this whole courting thing? When he had taken his leave, she went into the kitchen, lost in thought.

Jenna was in there already dishing out the bowls of ice cream. "Wanna talk about it?" She smiled, sliding one across the counter towards her niece.

"So that wasn't just me right? I didn't imagine that whole visit?" Elena asked, picking up the spoon and swirling it around in the bowl.

"You mean where the handsome older brother of your ex just waltzed in like Rhett Butler and offered to whisk you off your feet?" Jenna grinned.

"Rhett Butler?"

"Okay, not Rhett Butler then, someone you actually find dashing and debonair." A roll of the eyes was given as Jenna put away the ice cream container.

"He was kinda charming, wasn't he?" The beginnings of a smile returned to Elena's face.

"Very. But I should do my matronly duty here and point out, isn't he a little old for you Elena?" Jenna wagged a spoon at her.

Elena snorted at that, she didn't know the half of it… "Yeah, he is a little older, but it's not like he picked me up out cruising the high school for teenage girls, I know him." She pointed out.

"I'll just repeat something my mother once said to me and we'll move on. _Older boys want older things_." Jenna said that last in an ominous tone.

She couldn't help but laugh at the way Jenna said it. "That's true, but don't worry; Damon won't pressure me to do anything I don't want to." Elena replied with absolute conviction.

"You sound pretty sure of that."

"I am." He'd certainly do his best to get past her defenses, such as they were (practically non-existent where he was concerned!), but he always backed off when she told him to.

"So what's the problem then?" Jenna asked around a mouth full of mint chip.

"What makes you think there's a problem?"

"You're not even touching your ice cream."

Elena set the bowl down with a drawn out sigh. "I don't know… it's just a little weird isn't it? I mean I just broke up with his brother like five minutes ago, isn't it a little soon to be playing the field again?"

"I'd agree if that's what you were doing, playing the field. But I kinda got the impression there was a little bit more than that between you already, was I wrong?"

"No, you're not wrong there."

"Is that why you broke up with Stefan?" Jenna asked gently. "Because of Damon and you feel guilty now about going out with him?"

"What? No, there were other reasons." Elena answered quickly. But if she was being honest with herself, that wasn't entirely true. She had kissed Damon, had wanted him, long before she'd broken up with Stefan, even if they'd already been having problems at the time. "Sorta." She added dejectedly.

"Aw sweetie, come here." Jenna pulled her into a comforting hug. "Hey, we've all been there, you know? Done something we're not especially proud of or taken a detour off of the moral high road. You're only human right? Just… try not to beat yourself up about it too much. You're a good person, and you would never deliberately try to hurt someone, you know that, as well as I do."

Elena took comfort in the hug, sighing against Jenna's shoulder. "I know, I just wonder… if it's the right thing to do now or if I should wait…"

Jenna pulled back and took hold of Elena's shoulders, looking her in the eye. "Answer me quickly without over thinking it. Do you want to be with Damon?"

"Yes." Elena replied instantly, surprising herself.

"Well there you go." Jenna smiled broadly. "And just in time before your ice cream started to melt." She nudged the bowl back towards Elena with a grin.

Elena smiled back, picking up the spoon and taking a bite of the smooth, creamy goodness. "Thanks Aunt Jenna."

"No sweat sweetie. This relationship stuff is one thing I'm an expert on. Well, if you can call my still being single being an expert. But you should be able to benefit from my mistakes, right?"

"I thought things were going well with Mr. Saltzman?" Elena asked, taking another bite.

"They are." Jenna confided with a smile. "I'm thinking… we might be ready to take things to the next level, if you know what I mean." Her smile widened.

"Go on with your bad self, good for you." Elena smiled back, glad that things seemed to be working out for the two of them, they deserved it.

"So… I might not be around much this weekend. I'll be counting on you to exercise the right amount of … oh who am I kidding? Have a good time this weekend too, just don't do anything I wouldn't do." Jenna grinned.

"And that would be what exactly?" Elena teased.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Jenna answered loftily, picking up her empty bowl and depositing it into the sink for later. She headed out of the room, but not before giving Elena a quick wink.

*** back from commercial ***

When Elena went up to bed that night, she was looking forward to having another frank talk with Damon about his intentions when he showed up to "watch over her" as he tended to do most nights.

Instead, she found a single white rose on her pillow, an envelope next to it with her name on it in elegantly lettered script. Opening the envelope, she found a simple card inside, inscribed in the same elegant hand.

E,

Tomorrow night, seven o'clock. Be ready for me this time.

Yours,

D

She'd almost expected a long flowery letter after his little performance that night, but this style seemed to suit him better. _Be ready for me…_ it was a little hard to do that without knowing what he had in mind. Knowing Damon, he could have any kind of plans from renting out the most elegant restaurant in town to flying her to New York for the evening, to showing up in her bedroom with a bag of Chinese take-out.

As she climbed into bed, she mulled over the events of the night, going over the things that Damon had said. He wanted more too… but did he want the same more that she did?

**A/N: Three guesses as to where Damon will take her for the date.**

**I know some of you already follow my other fic **_**Roadtrip**_**, so please excuse the following request if you've already seen it.**

**Ok calling out to all you readers for a bit of help. I am deep in the planning process for book #3 and I've decided to try something new. I've never attempted writing from the 1****st**** person perspective, but I'm thinking the new idea is particularly well suited for it. So in order to try it out, I'll be writing a new Vampire Diaries fanfic set from Elena's POV in the first person. I would love to get the opinion of people following my regular writing style to see if it works, or falls flat. **

**I have started a new fic, it will be completely AU back to the beginning of season one, something totally new. The premise is this: What if just as Elena realizes that Stefan and Damon are vampires she bolts and there is a tragic accident? As she lies dying in Stefan's arms, he can't bring himself to save her for fear of damning her for all eternity to the same curse that he struggles with. Damon, unburdened by the same concerns, snatches Elena from his arms and turns her. Elena wakes to a whole new world as a vampire. How will she react to her new un-life? Will she become just like Katherine? How will this change her feelings for Stefan? And now that she shares this new connection with Damon as her maker, will they grow closer? Will Damon just use her as a pawn in his personal war against Stefan? Or will he let her into his heart?**

**It's called "**_**Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down**_**", and the first chapter is already up, so please review if you can.**

**Feedback is love people **


	22. In the Land of Hearts and Flowers

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**.

**Maybe it's a little late in the game but I should probably point out that I have never read any of the Vampire Diaries books, so I have just season one of the TV show to fuel my plot bunnies. Thusly, if I get something wrong for the fandom, my apologies, I'm doing the best I can. **

_E,_

_Tomorrow night, seven o'clock. Be ready for me this time._

_Yours, _

_D_

_She'd almost expected a long flowery letter after his little performance that night, but this style seemed to suit him better. Be ready for me… it was a little hard to do that without knowing what he had in mind. Knowing Damon, he could have any kind of plans from renting out the most elegant restaurant in town to flying her to New York for the evening, to showing up in her bedroom with a bag of Chinese take-out. _

_As she climbed into bed, she mulled over the events of the night, going over the things that Damon had said. He wanted more too… but did he want the same more that she did? _

* * *

Elena sat nervously on the edge of the couch, wrists on her knees, ankles together, staring off into space as she waited for Damon to show. Why was she so nervous? She'd spent nearly every night lately lying next to him as he "watched over her". But his intention to _court_ her had started her to thinking about the future.

Was there a future in dating a vampire? Things with Stefan had fallen apart so spectacularly, it was hard to find the faith that things would be different with Damon. Of course Damon was an entirely different person than Stefan; that went without saying. But up until just a few months ago she had thought he was completely without morals or honor. What if there were more surprises in store where Damon was concerned? Would he expect to feed on her eventually?

She was getting ahead of herself, and starting to freak out a little bit. Getting up, she moved to check her appearance in the mirror again, fretting over whether or not she'd dressed appropriately. In the end she'd gone with a little navy blue dress, something suitable to go with the suit he'd worn the day before; but not super dressy in case they went somewhere more casual. Her hair had been left to cascade down her back in loose waves, nothing too elaborate or styled. Elena hadn't had the heart to put Stefan's necklace back on, so she still wore the bracelet she'd given Jeremy for protection, even though it didn't go with her outfit.

At the sound of the doorbell she visibly jumped, laughing at herself for being such an idiot. "It's just Damon." She murmured to herself. "Nothing to be nervous about." Opening the door, she found him on the other side, dressed in a pair of jeans and a charcoal grey cashmere sweater that made his eyes look stormier than usual. He looked even better than the day before if possible, the effect was classy but casual, and she was glad she hadn't worn anything more formal.

Damon's face lit into a glorious smile as he caught sight of her. "You look… like perfection." He held out a single red rose.

_A red rose… that stood for love…_ Her fingers brushed against his as she accepted the rose with a murmur of thanks. Elena was unsure quite what to say for a moment, flustered at the way he was looking at her. "Perfection? I'm not sure there is such a thing."

"Of course there is, look at me." He smirked. "Is your Aunt Jenna at home?"

"No, she's out with Alaric." Elena brought the flower to her nose, enjoying the heady scent.

"Ah, well so much for that convention. Alright then, are you ready to go?" Damon reached for her elbow to guide her outside.

Elena eased as he took hold of her arm; the nervousness disappeared but was replaced with a new kind of flutter in her belly at his touch. "Where are we going?"

"To my place."

Her feet stopped moving and Elena went stock still. "The boarding house?" The idea of running into Bonnie and Stefan was enough to curdle her stomach.

Damon chuckled, his hand moving from her elbow to stroke her back comfortingly. "No, to my home."

Elena blinked in confusion. "Your home? Since when do you have another home?" Hadn't he been living at the boarding house this whole time? Or practically living with her in his efforts to keep her safe?

"You think you have me all figured out Elena Gilbert, but I'm a complicated animal." Damon tapped her lightly on the nose before opening the car door for her.

"I'll say." She murmured, slipping into the passenger's seat. "So you have your own house or apartment then?" Somehow it was hard to picture him set up in his own household.

"No, not exactly."

He was being deliberately secretive on purpose. "Gee can you vague that up for me?" Elena smirked.

"You'll see." His eyes flashed with mischief as he shut the door and moved around to slide in beside her.

There was something sexy about watching a man drive, especially the casual way that Damon went about it, as though it took only a fraction of his capabilities to manage it. He skillfully guided the car out onto the road, driving much faster than the speed limit allowed for, but she felt safe in the seat next to him. "Aren't you supposed to wait till the end of the date to try and get me to go back to your place?" She pointed out, watching him put the car through its paces.

"Ha ha I get it, you're very clever." A roll of the eyes was given. His lips pressed together for a moment as he drove. "Unless… you'd rather skip dinner and 'go back to my place' for a little bit of fun instead?" He waggled his eyebrows.

"Don't push it." She returned dryly, but couldn't maintain that sober expression, a smile spreading as she caught his wounded expression.

Instead of taking her deeper into the heart of town he drove away from the city center. The scenery zipped past in a blur for the most part and Elena was content to remain at his side, the anticipation at what he had in store for her mounting with each passing mile.

Damon pulled off the main road into a weed choked driveway, the winding path taking them well away from the paved road. "This looks familiar…" Though she couldn't place it at first, suddenly it occurred to her as he brought the car to a stop. Stephan had taken her there once; to the old Salvatore Estate lying in ruins. This was where Damon wanted to take her on a romantic date? "This is what you meant by your home?"

"This was my home for a long time." Damon smiled, his eyes focused outside. "Come on." He alighted from the vehicle and moved to help her out of her side.

"Is there even a house standing here?" Elena asked, slipping her hand into his, torn between watching him and keeping her footing in the fading light.

"Actually no." Damon admitted. "But I'm thinking of rebuilding the place. Restoring a bit of my history, putting down some roots. Pick your favorite cliché and run with it." He grinned.

"That would take millions to restore it to its former glory." Elena balked at the idea. "You have that kind of money?" Her brows climbed.

Damon gave her a wink, his silent smile speaking volumes. He led her through the remains of the garden to a flat grassy area overlooking a small stream that was little more than a brook in the waning summer heat. There a table and chairs were set up, draped with crisp white linens. Elena could see the wink of silverware and fine bone china set upon the table; an elaborate candelabra the centerpiece, surrounded by red and white roses.

He guided her to the table with a proprietary hand at the small of her back, pulling out the chair for her with a flourish. "My lady." He breathed near her ear.

"Thank you kind Sir." Elena smiled back as she took her seat, impressed by the trouble he'd gone through to set the stage for this romantic evening. "All we need now is a little music and candlelight and we're all set."

"As my lady commands." Damon sketched a bow, bending to retrieve a boombox from under the tablecloth. Soft strains of music drifted up between them.

_If you don't know me by now_

_You will never ever, ever know me…_

"Nice." Elena nodded with an approving smile. "And the candles?"

Damon's face grew intent for a moment as he stared at the candelabra as if he expected it to spontaneously combust and then he sighed, producing a lighter. "Guess I'll have to do it the old fashioned way."

Elena laughed at the disgruntled look on his face. "Were you really expecting that to work?"

"You never know unless you try." He gave a half shrug. "Besides, I just love to hear you laugh." Damon's grin resurfaced as he lit the candles. "There we go, romantic candlelight, check. Let's see what else we can find." His eyes flashed with mischief as he produced a bottle of champagne.

"You know… this is kind of amazing." Elena murmured in wonder, looking around at the overgrown garden, the beautiful table he'd set up for them, before returning to watch him pour the champagne into elegant crystal flutes.

"This is nothing." He shook off the compliment. "You're the amazing one. You get that don't you?" Damon asked, his face earnest for once, no trace of that smirk to be found.

Elena looked away, her cheeks burning with discomfiture. "Me? I'm not anything special. I'm not a vampire or a witch or any kind of magical creature."

"You tamed the savage beast, I'd say that calls for some kind of magic." Damon returned glibly, losing some of that intensity in his gaze. Instead he focused on bringing up delicacy after delicacy from a great wicker basket sitting next to the table.

Instead of bringing an elaborately prepared meal, Damon had packed lots of little odds and ends, mostly finger foods that could be enjoyed chilled. Elena recognized all of her favorites in attendance, a veritable smorgasbord of choices. Chocolate covered strawberries, grapes, a decadent looking chocolate torte, soft sourdough bread with olive oil and vinegar for dipping, crackers, an assortment of cheeses and Italian cold cuts, and a guilty pleasure, cheese in a can.

"How many people are we expecting to join us?" Elena's eyes grew wider with every treat he produced.

"I wanted to make sure I brought enough to tempt you with."

_He didn't need the picnic basket to do that…_ "How did you know so many of my favorites?"

"I read your diary."

"What?" Elena squeaked, just about to take a sip of champagne, she would have spit it across the table if he'd said it just a half a second later.

Damon smirked at her reaction. "Actually I asked Caroline. Big mistake by the way." He added with a long suffering sigh.

Elena's head came up at that. "You saw Caroline? When did you see her?" She'd been such a bad friend lately, so wrapped up in her own stuff that she hadn't stopped to check in on her in the hospital. As far as she knew Caroline was still in the coma.

"No… relax Elena. It was before."

"Before when? When you were dating her?" Elena's brows drew together as she tried to puzzle her way through that one.

"If you could call it that." Damon took a sip of champagne.

"Why did you ask her about my favorite things?" Back then she'd barely known anything about Damon at all, just that he was Stefan's older brother and that there was bad blood between them. She hadn't even known he was a vampire then.

"Recon. Getting to know the enemy, that sort of thing." He gave a careless shrug.

"I was never your enemy." Her eyes found his.

"I know that now." Damon replied simply, a tinge of regret to his voice. "Come on, dig in." He prompted her.

"Everything looks so good, I don't know where to start." She looked over the table laden with goodies, teeth worrying at her lower lip.

"I say we skip to the good stuff." He smirked, picking up the rich chocolate torte and handing her a fork.

Elena accepted the fork, her fingers brushing against his. "Here's to skipping to the good stuff." She breathed, taking a bite of the decadent dessert, her eyes closing with pleasure as the bittersweet chocolate burst across her palate. _Oh she could get used to this..._

*** back from commercial***

Dinner consumed, they took a leisurely walk along the bank of the creek. Elena had long discarded her heels, enjoying the feel of the soft soil between her toes. Their hands were twined together, conversation low and intimate.

"It's beautiful here." Elena sighed, leaning against his shoulder.

"Thank you." He said simply and it occurred to her that she'd never seen him this much at peace.

"It doesn't bother you? All the history here, the tragedy of what happened to you?" She couldn't help but ask.

A shake of the head was given. "The positive memories far outweigh the negative ones."

"Even with…" Elena couldn't quite bring herself to bring up Katherine's name, but she knew he must think of her in that setting.

As if he had keyed in to her thoughts, Damon responded to the unspoken question. "Anything that Katherine brought with her… she took away when she died. I am looking to build here with a clean slate."

"Wow how… new agey of you." She smiled, impressed by his outlook.

A slow smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Why, do you think this place is haunted?"

Elena stopped and listened for a moment, head canted to one side. "It doesn't feel haunted. It feels… peaceful."

Damon smiled in return, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Well then, I hope I can rely on your good taste when it comes to selecting a blueprint for the house and designing the interior."

Surprised at the offer, she looked up at him. "I'd be honored that you trust me to help with such an undertaking. But um, isn't this place half Stefan's too? Won't he have some say in it all?"

He seemed unconcerned with the idea. "I'm the eldest, the property comes to me. In a convoluted legal sort of way since I can't acknowledge that I am that Damon Salvatore, but the principle remains the same. Now that our last "uncle" is gone, all of the Salvatore holdings come to me."

"Must be nice, the only thing I got when mom and dad died was a box of moldy old antiques."

"What I wouldn't give for a box of my mother's things." Damon sighed wistfully, looking at the ruined house.

Elena was instantly contrite. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean…"

"I know." Damon kissed her forehead again, bringing them to a stop; he took her hands in his. "I have something for you."

"I don't need anything else Damon, tonight's been just about perfect already." She protested.

"Just about isn't good enough." He brushed aside her mild protest, drawing a small velvet box from his pocket and handing it to her.

Elena accepted the box with trembling fingers… hardly daring to guess what it held. Opening the box, inside lay a delicate silver filigree ring in a heart shape. "It's beautiful." She gasped truthfully. Pulling it free from the velvet casing, she noted there was a tiny catch on the side so that it could be opened. "Vervain?" Elena looked up at him.

Damon nodded, taking the ring from her; he showed her how to work the catch. "I decided a locket would just be passé. Besides, this has more meaning." Picking up her hand, he slipped it onto the ring finger of her left hand. "In my day this was called a promise ring."

Was there some significance to the finger he placed it on? "Oh? What do you promise?" She smiled as he slipped it onto her finger

"Well in the land of hearts and flowers I promise to be true to you, never even look at another girl until the day we marry… but this isn't Alabama so I think you're a bit young for that kind of thing now. Aren't you?" He looked into her eyes.

Elena had to admit there was a part of her that was disappointed that he wasn't asking for more at the moment, even though the sane part of her recognized that it was a bit soon to be talking about such things. This was their first date! Still… a girl didn't get a ring slipped onto that finger and not think about marriage… "What are you promising then?" She prompted again.

"I promise that I'll protect you." Damon answered earnestly.

An amused smile tugged at her lips. Why was it that men always thought women wanted to be protected above all else? "Who says I need protecting? Katherine's gone, whatever you did to Jeremy seems to be working, Stefan's… occupied with Bonnie."

"I told you before, I protect what's mine."

"Am I yours?" She laughed.

"Aren't you?"

Elena dropped her gaze, unable to meet the intensity of those blue eyes. What was he asking her exactly?

Damon brought his fingers to her chin and tilted her face up to meet his, lips descending to cover hers. There was nothing tentative or delicate about this kiss; he was claiming her, pure and simple.

Elena met his kiss, lips parting to accept him. Her arms stole up to wind around his shoulders, fingers sinking into the soft hair at the nape of his neck. This was totally unlike the other times they had kissed, when she had felt torn and somehow wrong for wanting him. Her pulse racing at this joining of more than lips; Elena finally gave in to what her heart had known for some time. "Yes…" She breathed finally when they drew apart.

"Alright then." Damon gave her a smug look. "I promise I will always be there for you, whether you want me around or not."

**A/N: My apologies to Alabamans everywhere, I kid because I love. Aw this ended up so sweet I almost want to end it here… Only I did promise to keep it up until the new season started didn't I? What do you think guys? Keep going or end here?**

**Feedback is love people **


	23. Visitations

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**.

**Thanks for the votes guys, I will continue through the rest of this month at least. Only you know what this means… trouble ahead…**

"_I told you before, I protect what's mine."_

"_Am I yours?" She laughed._

"_Aren't you?" _

_Elena dropped her gaze, unable to meet the intensity of those blue eyes. What was he asking her exactly?_

_Damon brought his fingers to her chin and tilted her face up to meet his, lips descending to cover hers. There was nothing tentative or delicate about this kiss; he was claiming her, pure and simple._

_Elena met his kiss, lips parting to accept him. Her arms stole up to wind around his shoulders, fingers sinking into the soft hair at the nape of his neck. This was totally unlike the other times they had kissed, when she had felt torn and somehow wrong for wanting him. Her pulse racing at this joining of more than lips; Elena finally gave in to what her heart had known for some time. "Yes…" She breathed finally when they drew apart._

"_Alright then." Damon gave her a smug look. "I promise I will always be there for you, whether you want me around or not."_

* * *

"If you want to be my boyfriend, you have to do boyfriend things with me." Elena insisted, tugging lightly at Damon's arm as they headed for the hospital double doors. It had been far too long since she'd stopped in to see Caroline. Even if her friend was still in the coma, she deserved to have someone sit with her sometimes; Caroline never liked to be alone.

"I'm not your boyfriend Elena, god that makes it sound like I'm fifteen years old." Damon shuddered. "I'm your betrothed." Trudging along behind her, he hung back just enough to make her work a little to get him into the hospital.

"Betrothed?" Her brows rose as she looked over her shoulder at him for confirmation that she'd heard him correctly.

A smug smile crept onto his face. "Oh, didn't I tell you that part?"

"No, that must have slipped your mind." Elena slowed, wondering if that meant what she thought it meant.

"It's part of courting and the accepting of the promise ring." Damon replied patiently, as if he was explaining it to a small child.

"What? I didn't agree to that!" Slipped out, a little louder than she'd intended, and Elena darted a look around as all eyes in the lobby turned to them.

A half shrug was given. "You accepted the ring, no weaseling your way out of it now."

"I'm not…" Elena took a deep breath, lowering her voice. "I'm not weaseling. How can it be weaseling if I didn't know what it was I was agreeing to?"

"I told you I was going to court you." Damon ticked off the point on his fingers. "I asked your guardian's permission." He ticked off another. "I gave you a ring which you accepted. And… the all important one, you acknowledged that you are mine."

When he put it like that… "Yeah, but betrothed? What exactly does that mean?" It was all moving too fast as far as she was concerned. She'd only just agreed to date him; at least that's what she'd thought she was agreeing to.

"It means that you acknowledge that you are mine, and at a date in the future, you will pledge to give yourself to me, forsaking all others yada yada yada. Clear enough for you?"

"That sounds like a lot of pledging on my behalf." Elena fixed him with a disgruntled pout. "What do I get out of this?"

"I would have thought that would be perfectly clear." Damon gave her a heated look.

Elena swallowed, suddenly feeling very, very warm. "We don't need to be betrothed for that."

"Oh yes we do. You asked me to take things slow, well that's exactly what I'm doing Angel." Damon moved close, fingertips tracing along the contour of her jaw.

"How is this taking things slow? It seems a little rushed to me." Elena's voice was little more than a whisper at the gentle touch.

In a flash he had her through the lobby and into the stairwell away from prying eyes, his body pressing her against the wall. "You want to see rushed? I can show you rushed…" His voice was low and intimate by her ear.

Elena's eyes flew wide in alarm at the sudden shift, but before she could protest, Damon covered her mouth with his, effectively silencing her objections with a deep kiss. Her every sense seemed to be flooded with him, the way he looked, smelled, tasted, felt… and something else, something she couldn't define that overwhelmed her to the bottom of her soul. The dance went on and on, his kisses drugging her senses until the only reason she was still upright was because he had her pinned that way, not from any strength left in her limbs. If she'd thought herself tempted in the past, it was nothing compared to the onslaught of desire that built within her from his tender assault.

With great effort, she pulled her lips from his, drawing in a ragged breath. "I can't think when you're doing that." She breathed.

"Exactly." Damon smiled against her throat, lightly nipping the skin there.

"Damon please…" Her head lolled to one side of its own volition, affording him better access.

"Please what? Don't stop?" His fingers slid under her top, grazing bare skin as they quested north.

A gasp left her lips, what did she want? She wanted him, oh how she wanted him but… "Not here…"

"Where then? There are a lot of rooms with beds." Damon pointed out, ever helpful.

_Not like this…_ Elena shoved as hard as she could, which only succeeded in gaining her about an inch of space between them. But it was enough. "Not here. You made your point." She swallowed, her chin coming up with determination.

"And that point would be?" The corner of his lips tugged up in to a smirk.

"Okay, we're betrothed. But no more pawing at me in public."

"This isn't exactly the town square Elena."

"You want to do this old school? You act like a gentleman." Elena pressed a single finger against his immobile chest.

"For now." He nodded, taking a step backwards to release her.

"For now." She nodded back, drawing in another deep, shuddering breath as her body slowly returned to normal. God help her when later came…

*** back from commercial ***

They stood just inside Caroline's room, watching the blonde lying motionless on the bed. Her hair had been lovingly brushed and arranged, and she wore a pretty pink sweater over the hospital gown, some nurse's efforts at making her more comfortable no doubt.

"I think I like her better this way." Damon considered aloud, his head canting to one side as he studied her still form.

Elena elected to respond by smacking him against the abs. It probably didn't hurt him but it made her feel better. "Be nice…" She whispered, moving deeper into the room and taking up a bedside seat.

"Why are you whispering?" Damon asked in a stage whisper. "It's not like she can hear us."

"You don't know that." Elena returned. "Studies have shown that people respond a lot faster if they have positive surroundings, people talking and reading to them…"

"Damn, and here I left my copy of Green Eggs and Ham at home." Damon smirked.

Elena tried not to crack up at that, her teeth pressing against the inside of her lips before the smile won out. "Maybe next time."

Damon sank into the chair behind her, more intent on watching her now than the patient. His head came up a fraction before the door opened, his body instinctively shielding Elena from whatever might be entering.

Bonnie stopped in the doorway, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Bonnie!" Elena's face mirrored that astonishment, not having expected to run into her there, but then again, how long could she have reasonably expected to put it off? It was a small town and school would be starting up again soon…

"Should I leave you girls alone?" Damon's brow rose as he looked between the two.

Elena's hand clamped down on Damon's, nails digging into his flesh. It was a strange feeling, to be afraid of her best friend, but then again, these were strange times.

"Or I could always stay." He winced.

"I can come back later…" Bonnie's eyes dropped, taking a half step backwards.

"No, it's fine. We can all behave can't we?" Elena allowed, loosening her death grip on Damon's hand a fraction. They would have to be in the same room sooner or later.

"Of course." Bonnie gave a tight smile, taking a seat on the opposite side of the bed, her eyes on the pair. "So you two are…"

"Yes, we are." Damon replied, placing a possessive arm around Elena's shoulders. Instead of being annoyed by the move, Elena felt grateful for the security of his embrace as she faced the witch.

"Can't say I didn't see that coming…" Bonnie muttered.

"That makes one of us." Elena muttered back in response, she'd been completely blindsided by Bonnie's involvement with Stefan.

Bonnie's head came up sharply but she remained silent.

The silence stretched between them, the only sounds the steady hum of the machines that recorded Caroline's vitals.

"Are you… okay?" Elena blurted finally, unable to keep from asking. The last time they'd seen each other, Bonnie had acted almost like she was on drugs from the vampire blood.

"Yeah, I'm good. Great even." Bonnie nodded, seeming to ease a little. "Well _you_ know…"

"I know what?" A pucker appeared on Elena's brow as she tried to fathom what Bonnie was referring to.

"What it's like, I mean with Damon…" Bonnie offered by way of explanation.

Elena stared at her blankly and Damon sat forward in the chair, staring intently at Bonnie. "Yeah, what do you mean by that Bonnie?" He asked, his voice low.

"So you two… you're not sharing…" Bonnie looked back and forth between the pair of them.

"Not like that." Damon replied.

Elena still didn't get what they were talking about and she waited for one of them to elaborate.

"Oh. Well I guess I'm not surprised there. She always was a little bit of a prude." Bonnie said with a note of superiority to her tone, standing up to leave. "I think I will come back later." Without a backwards glance, Bonnie was out the door.

"Um… bye." Elena watched her go, still completely in the dark. "What was that all about?"

Damon leaned close, keeping his voice low just in case Caroline could hear after all. "She thought that we were sharing blood like she and Stefan are." He explained.

"Eewh, why would we do that?" Elena was appalled at the idea after witnessing such an exchange between Stefan and Bonnie.

"It's considered to be very pleasurable." Damon shrugged. "I could show you sometime if you like."

"Ick, no thanks." Her nose wrinkled with distaste. "That's never gonna happen."

Damon chuckled over her response. "Never say never. There may come a day when you feel differently."

"I don't think so."

"That's what you said the first time I tried to kiss you…"

He had her there…

*** back from commercial ***

Elena delivered safely home, Damon had gone back to the boarding house. Partly to annoy Stefan and partly to pack some things for when he returned to Elena that night. He was spending less and less time there, preferring to keep a watchful eye over Elena as she slept, preferably from the comfort of her bed. It wasn't that he didn't trust Jeremy, the pipsqueak seemed to have learned his lesson and was shaping up. If Jeremy was killing, he was doing it well away from Elena's sphere of influence and that was all he cared about.

As he crossed the threshold, Damon was aware that there was someone else at home… someone who did not smell at all like Stefan… Moving cautiously, Damon stalked through the house, his senses taking him up to his own room. A woman stood there at the window, petite, long dark hair, roughly the same size and build as Elena but not alive… "Isobel." He said finally as it struck him. "I thought you'd left town after the whole Katherine shish kabob." Damon smirked, leaning against the doorframe.

"Damon." Isobel smiled, turning to greet him, her voice lacking any warmth.

She was a cold one alright… and the sooner she left the better as far as he was concerned. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" In a brief panicky moment he wondered if that's what she wanted? One for the road? His stomach churned at the idea of sleeping with Elena's mother now.

Isobel chuckled, moving away from the window, she crossed the room towards him. "Don't look so worried. I'm going alright, but first I came to give you one last parting gift."

Damon watched her with caution. While it was true he was older and stronger than she was, he had learned never to underestimate his opponent. They had formed a fragile truce for Elena's safety but he was under no illusions that he could trust her. "Gee I didn't get you anything." He smirked.

"You can do something for me then." Isobel replied, stopping directly in front of him. "Promise me you'll wait until she asks."

The implication was that she meant Elena, but beyond that he was lost. "Until she asks for what?"

Isobel caught up Damon's hand and pressed something small and hard into his palm, folding his fingers around it.

Damon opened his hand to find a delicate version of his own ring winking back at him, the lapis lazuli brilliant blue. "Katherine's ring." He murmured in shock. He'd forgotten all about it after staking her.

"Promise me." Isobel prompted, her eyes hard as agates.

Tearing his eyes away from the ring and what it represented, he nodded. "I promise." He said simply.

*** teaser ***

The knock at the door drew Elena from her chair, setting the remote down after muting the TV. It was a bit early for Damon to show, and he usually came by way of her bedroom window; but then again when had he ever done the predictable? The smile of anticipation as she pulled the door open froze when she saw Stefan standing there, his eyes downcast.

"I was hoping we could talk."

Without thinking much of the invitation, Elena stepped back, motioning for him to enter. "Come on in." They'd put it off long enough, and after seeing Bonnie, she thought it might be for the best to clear the air. Leading him into the living room, she commented. "I saw Bonnie today."

"I know, she told me."

There was something in his voice that made her look up, her eyes widening in fear at the barely controlled anger she saw in his face. "What…" Elena barely had time to get the word out before his hand closed around her windpipe, choking off her response and any scream of protest she might offer.

**A/N: And away we go! **

**Feedback is love people **


	24. Damsel in Distress?

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**.

**Lots of action in this chapter, much less hearts and flowers. I know, Stefan's being a tool, but jealousy is a powerful thing…**

"_You can do something for me then." Isobel replied, stopping directly in front of him. "Promise me you'll wait until she asks."_

_The implication was that she meant Elena, but beyond that he was lost. "Until she asks for what?"_

_Isobel caught up Damon's hand and pressed something small and hard into his palm, folding his fingers around it. _

_Damon opened his hand to find a delicate version of his own ring winking back at him, the lapis lazuli brilliant blue. "Katherine's ring." He murmured in shock. He'd forgotten all about it after staking her._

"_Promise me." Isobel prompted, her eyes hard as agates. _

_Tearing his eyes away from the ring and what it represented, he nodded. "I promise." He said simply. _

* * *

The knock at the door drew Elena from her chair, setting the remote down after muting the TV. It was a bit early for Damon to show, and he usually came by way of her bedroom window; but then again when had he ever done the predictable? The smile of anticipation as she pulled the door open froze when she saw Stefan standing there, his eyes downcast.

"I was hoping we could talk."

Without thinking much of the invitation, Elena stepped back, motioning for him to enter. "Come on in." They'd put it off long enough, and after seeing Bonnie, she thought it might be for the best to clear the air. Leading him into the living room, she commented. "I saw Bonnie today."

"I know, she told me."

There was something in his voice that made her look up, her eyes widening in fear at the barely controlled anger she saw in his face. "What…" Elena barely had time to get the word out before his hand closed around her throat, choking off her response and any scream of protest she might offer.

Stefan pressed Elena into the softness of the couch, the give of the cushion the only thing keeping him from crushing her windpipe. "How could you do this to me? He demanded, half covering her with his body.

"What?" Elena's voice was little more than a squeak as she desperately tried to claw his hand away from her throat.

His expression was tortured, a hint of madness in his eyes. "I loved you. I know I screwed up with Bonnie but Damon? How could you let him touch you?"

She'd told him she had feelings for Damon! Elena had been up front with it almost as soon as she'd admitted it to herself. That he was flipping out about it now was incomprehensible to her unless Bonnie had painted a much racier picture of their earlier conversation? Stefan was slowly squeezing the life out of her, almost like he wasn't even interested in hearing what she had to say in response. Was this even about his feelings for her or his hatred of Damon?

Elena looked up at him helplessly, her eyes wide with panic as bright pinpricks of light started to swim before her. Really starting to get scared that he might kill her, she tried again to defend herself. "Stef…"

"Get the hell off of her!" Jeremy cried, wrenching Stefan away faster than her eyes could track.

Elena collapsed onto the couch, drawing in a greedy breath. "Jer…" She croaked, worried that Stefan would wipe the floor with him in his current state.

Stefan whirled on his attacker, a feral growl escaping his lips, almost as if he didn't recognize Jeremy at all.

"Elena are you okay?" Jeremy risked a look to his sister since Stefan didn't immediately leap into attack mode.

Elena coughed, offering a shaky nod, unable to speak for the moment as she pushed herself into a seated position.

Stefan's gaze swung back to Elena, eyes flaring with emotion as he took in her state. For a moment he almost seemed like himself again as he knelt before her. "I didn't mean to hurt you…" His voice sounded very near tears, his hands beginning to shake. "Just, don't do this. Anyone but Damon." He implored her, petting her hair.

Holding very still, Elena dared not look at Jeremy, too scared to take her eyes off of Stefan for fear of what he'd do next. Her throat was still raw and painful, so she kept her silence.

"I know I can make you love me again…" He murmured, hands dropping to her shoulders. Stefan leaned in to press a kiss to her lips, hard enough to cut her lip against his slightly extended fangs. Bright blood exploded his senses and his eyes went dark and crinkly as he lost all semblance of control.

Elena's screams were muffled against his mouth, shoving with all of her might to get him off of her as he bit savagely against her lips.

"I said leave her the fuck alone!" Jeremy launched himself at Stefan.

Stefan whirled with a snarl, slamming Jeremy down on the ground and pinning him there.

Elena scrambled over the back of the couch the instant she was free, grabbing a chair, she broke it across Stefan's back. "Get off of him!" She screamed as she heard the sound of breaking bone and Jeremy's cry of pain.

The blow didn't seem to phase Stefan, and he reached back to shove Elena away without a backwards glance, his focus intent on killing Jeremy for all outward appearances. Elena's head cracked against the coffee table on her way down and she labored to hold onto consciousness as she heard the sounds of their struggle.

_Good god, what would Stefan do to her without her brother to protect her?_ That thought alone gave Elena the strength to sit up, blinking as her vision swam. To her growing horror, she saw Stefan crouched over Jeremy, raining blow after blow upon him. Jeremy had ceased moving, his arm lying at an unnatural angle.

Fighting the dizziness that rose as she got to her feet, Elena grabbed the nearest weapon she could find… a broken chair leg. Hesitating for just a fraction of a moment, she brought the makeshift stake down as hard as she could, through the back of Stefan's shoulder, not really knowing how badly it might hurt him, and not really caring in that instant.

Stefan howled in pain as the wood pierced his skin, falling to his side and curling into the fetal position. It would be difficult for him to remove the stake on his own, but it appeared not to be a fatal blow.

Elena ran to Jeremy, pulling him away from Stefan's reach just in case. "Jer…" Her voice was little more than a whisper. "Are you okay?"

"Fuck…" Jeremy groaned, his good arm going to his nose. "Define okay…?"

Relief swept through her at hearing that tone of voice. Jeremy might be pissed off, but he'd live. Leaving him aside for the moment, she moved cautiously to Stefan's side, watching him writhe in agony with a strange sense of satisfaction. Leaning down close so that he would hear her scant voice, she fixed him with the deadliest look she could muster, even though inside she was shaking like a leaf. "Next time I won't miss. Get the hell out of here. You gave up the right to be jealous over me. You gave up any rights to me." She coughed again as the strain proved to be too much on her throat.

"Elena…" Stefan wheezed, trying to pull the stake out, but unable to form any kind of grip around the piece of wood.

Elena's eyes glittered maliciously, not above twisting the knife after all the pain and misery Stefan had caused her. "You're not half the man Damon is. You'd better pray he doesn't find you when he hears about what you did tonight."

Stefan's eyes darted nervously to the door, and he made a shambling effort to gain his feet.

"Yeah you _better_ run." Jeremy taunted gleefully, his voice oddly nasal through his broken nose. "Shouldn't Damon be coming over right about now?"

"Yes, he usually shows up just about when I'm ready for bed." Elena said coldly, using her words for maximum effect.

Hurt far worse by that mental picture than by the stake in his shoulder, Stefan lurched towards the door, having trouble moving with the pain of the wood embedded in his body. "I'll go."

"And never come back." Elena's voice was a little stronger now.

Stefan gave her a stricken look. But there were no parting words as he left.

Elena sagged against the couch the instant he was gone, her eyes closing with relief. Of course there was nothing to stop him from coming back, and it wasn't exactly like she could ask Bonnie to re-spell the house and rescind the invitation… Though privately she wondered what the witch would have thought about the scene that had just gone down.

"Are you okay?" Jeremy asked, pulling himself up to his feet, his nose already looking less puffy and swollen.

"I'll live." Elena gave him a half hearted smile, her hand going to her throat.

"I didn't mean your throat." Jeremy replied, sitting down heavily on the coffee table. "Jenna's gonna be pissed about the chair."

Elena's shoulders shook with silent laughter at the observation, trying her hardest not to make her throat any more sore than it was.

A footstep on the porch scant minutes later drew both their heads up, but Damon entered, his brows drawing together as he scented fresh blood in the air. "Did I miss something?"

*** back from commercial ***

"And you staked him?" Damon blinked. His hands clenched the back of the chair hard enough to leave indentations in the wood.

"She did." Jeremy nodded, wincing as Elena bandaged a temporary sling onto his arm.

"That's it." His eyes darkened. "No more playing around, Stefan just officially went beyond the boundaries of brotherly love."

"Wait…" Elena laid a hand on his arm, staying him. "How is this different from anything you did to him over the years?" Her voice was a little stronger now, but she sucked on a lozenge to soothe the burn.

"He broke the rules. There's an unspoken code, you don't take it out on someone you love. That's why I never hurt you, even when I hated him so much I couldn't see straight. Screw with his life, yeah. Kill an innocent here and there, okay. But I would never have hurt you Elena, not just to get back at him."

Elena blinked as he as good as admitted that he loved her.

"For him to have come after you like that…" Damon swallowed back the impotent rage that swelled at the thought that Elena could have been hurt much worse and he hadn't been there to protect her. "He doesn't deserve to live."

"He's your brother Damon."

"Not anymore." Damon bit back. For Katherine he had been willing to spend an eternity torturing his baby brother. For Elena, he was ready to end it once and for all.

Elena tried again to reason with him. "Think about this for a moment. How will you feel after he's dead?"

"Ecstatic."

Standing, she put her hands on Damon's shoulders. "Stefan's not important, okay? He doesn't matter. All he did was push me away and end up with a serious splinter for his trouble. Be the bigger man, walk away from this." She tried for a smile.

"I'd rather be petty and rip out his goddamn throat." Damon growled.

"Damon look at me." Elena lifted his chin. "It's tearing him up inside that we're together now. Isn't that the sweeter revenge?"

"She has a point there." Jeremy commented, but backed off when he drew Damon's glare. "I'm gonna go take care of this…" He murmured, though neither of them were paying much attention to him as he left the room.

Damon was starting to soften under her coaxing tone, her soothing touch finally reaching through the rage, but one point kept coming back, one thing he couldn't ignore. He had failed her. "I promised to protect you." Gently he reached up to rub his thumb beneath the bruised and torn flesh of her lower lip.

"Yeah well, I protected myself." Elena gave her best approximation of his smirk. "I told you I could take care of myself, didn't I?"

"I guess you did at that." Damon smiled, pulling her into his embrace, crushing her to his chest. "It's just…when I think how he could have hurt you, that I might have lost you." There was a catch in his voice, an edge to his emotion he'd never articulated before. Hell, Damon wasn't even sure if there were words for what he was feeling at that moment.

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere. I pledged my troth to you or something, remember?" Elena smiled into his chest.

"Betrothed, the word is betrothed." Damon chuckled, kissing the top of her head. "Come on, you've had a big night, let's get you to bed." He released her enough to twine his fingers through hers and give them a tug towards the stairs.

"And you'll leave Stefan alone?" Elena remained rooted to the spot.

"For now." He gathered her close again for another hug, but his eyes told a different story.

*** back from commercial ***

Jeremy stood before the bathroom mirror, studying his smashed nose with disgust. He knew what needed to be done… he just wasn't too happy about it. Taking a deep breath, he forced the bones back into the right shape, gritting his teeth against the pain rather than crying out, not wanting to bring Elena running; she already did enough mothering in his opinion.

What he needed now was some blood to heal the damage, only he wasn't sure if he was feeling up to going out to hunt. "Why can't they have delivery service? 1-800-FRESH BLOOD." He muttered to himself. "Actually…" Drawing out his cellphone, he hit the speed dial for Mickey's Pizza. "Yeah I'd like a large Sicilian with everything on it…"

Luckily Damon and Elena seemed to have settled down for the night by the time the delivery guy arrived and Jeremy opened the door before he had a chance to ring the bell. "Hey, that was fast." He gave him a friendly smile. "Come on inside for a minute while I get the cash."

"Well… I'm not really supposed to…" The delivery guy (Steve according to his nametag) hesitated, looking warily into the house.

Jeremy smiled, meeting his eyes… this was his favorite part. Well, almost. "Sure you can, come on inside." He focused his intent, eyes shifting as he used his compulsion.

"Sure I can…" Steve nodded, losing his distrust as he stepped over the threshold.

"Great." Jeremy closed the door silently behind him, following him deeper into the house. "That smells… fantastic." His fangs extended, eyes darkening as his vampire nature came forth. Unable to wait any longer, Jeremy lunged for him, his good hand clamping down around the victim's mouth as he sank his fangs into his throat.

He just meant to take a little… but his body clamored for more once he started drinking, needing the extra blood to heal his injuries. It was a rush unlike any drug he'd ever taken before, and Jeremy was hooked. But as he pulled away, Steve's lifeless body slumping to the ground, it suddenly occurred to him that he'd broken the one rule Damon had given him. "Oh god he's gonna kill me…" The words came out barely above a whisper.

With a worried look to the stairs, Jeremy dragged Steve into the kitchen, hoping to buy himself a few minutes to figure out how to handle this before Damon scented the blood and came to investigate it. But no sooner had he laid the body out by the back door, Damon was standing at the kitchen door.

"What the hell did you do?" He demanded, his voice low and tightly controlled and all the more menacing for it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I swear." Jeremy hedged, his face pleading with Damon to understand. "Don't tell Elena."

Damon gave a disgusted snort. "I'm not telling Elena, the last thing she needs right now is to deal with that." He gestured at the body, his mind already leaping ahead with how best to clean the mess up. "Alright, take off his jacket and the hat."

"What?" Jeremy blinked at him, not quite sure why the request was made.

"Get moving, you gotta get there in thirty minutes or less." Damon's lips quirked into a faint smile. "The driver's last stop was here, the pizza place is gonna know that. So you need to go and make the rest of his deliveries, then we can ditch the car with the body in it, wrap it around a tree or something so he goes through the windshield, make it look as gruesome as possible."

"Won't they wonder about the lack of blood at the scene?" Jeremy asked, tugging the clothes off of the body, grateful that the jacket was dark and would hide the bloodstains.

"What are you Columbo?"

"Who's Columbo?" Jeremy looked up at him in confusion.

"I'm not even gonna get into everything that's wrong with that question." Damon shook his head. "But look, lets face it, the local yokels aren't exactly CSI material are they?" He smirked. "Trust me, they're not that hard to fool. Now get moving, you don't have a lot of time."

"Okay, right. I can do this." How hard could it be? It sounded like Damon had done this sort of thing plenty of times in the past; it was a good skill to learn.

Damon hefted the body and slung it over his shoulder. "Go bring the car around the back. I'll stick him in the back seat for now. When you dump the car, be sure to put him in the driver's seat."

"You're not coming?"

"Sorry, you're on your own for this one my young Padawan. I'm not leaving Elena's side til we figure out what to do about Stefan."

"Are you gonna…"

Damon's jaw tightened. "I don't know. I can't believe he lost it like that man, I mean I knew he was on edge but…"

"Yeah he was completely psycho, you should have seen him." Jeremy touched his broken arm, which was already feeling strong enough to remove the sling.

"Yeah I should have." Damon's face darkened again.

"Hey, it's not your fault you know, you can't be here 24/7." Jeremy pointed out, though why he was trying to make Damon feel better about it was beyond him. He still wasn't happy with the idea of the guy shacking up with his sister. Thank god they hadn't been going at it since Damon had started staying over nights to protect Elena. He didn't think he could handle having to listen to that with his enhanced hearing.

"The hell I can't." Damon snorted. "From now on I'm not letting her out of my sight."

"She's not gonna like that very much." Elena was nothing if not independent.

"Then she don't got to know about it, does she?" Damon gave a mischievous grin

Jeremy returned the smile with a nod. "Don't got to know about what?"

"You'd better get going, text me if you run into any problems."

"Yeah okay." Jeremy nodded, grabbing the keys to Steve's car to go and pull it around the back. He was just reaching the front door when he heard Elena start to come down the stairs. "Oh hey Elena." He said loudly, "Damon's in the kitchen if you're looking for him, I gotta go." It was the best warning he could manage without sticking around long enough for her to see what he was wearing. Hopefully Damon would be able to get rid of the body before she got to the kitchen. Who was he kidding? Damon could probably juggle corpses in his sleep and still charm his sister out of her pants…

**Feedback is love people **


	25. I'm Not That Guy

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**.

**Hearts and flowers, sadness and more violence… * be advised, definitely have some mature stuff at the end here.**

"_Hey, it's not your fault you know, you can't be here 24/7." Jeremy pointed out, though why he was trying to make Damon feel better about it was beyond him. He still wasn't happy with the idea of the guy shacking up with his sister. Thank god they hadn't been going at it since Damon had started staying over nights to protect Elena. He didn't think he could handle having to listen to that with his enhanced hearing. _

"_The hell I can't." Damon snorted. "From now on I'm not letting her out of my sight."_

"_She's not gonna like that very much." Elena was nothing if not independent. _

"_Then she don't got to know about it, does she?" Damon gave a mischievous grin_

_Jeremy returned the smile with a nod. "Don't got to know about what?" _

"_You'd better get going, text me if you run into any problems."_

"_Yeah okay." Jeremy nodded, grabbing the keys to Steve's car to go and pull it around the back. He was just reaching the front door when he heard Elena start to come down the stairs. "Oh hey Elena." He said loudly, "Damon's in the kitchen if you're looking for him, I gotta go." It was the best warning he could manage without sticking around long enough for her to see what he was wearing. Hopefully Damon would be able to get rid of the body before she got to the kitchen. Who was he kidding? Damon could probably juggle corpses in his sleep and still charm his sister out of her pants… _

* * *

Elena walked into the kitchen, watching Damon drink straight out of the orange juice carton, his body aglow with the light from the refrigerator. "Thirsty?" She asked, leaning against the wall.

Replacing the carton in the fridge, Damon approached her with a half shrug. He had plenty of time to ditch the body outside before she got to the kitchen, but just to be safe he steered her away from the rear of the house where Jeremy would be bringing around the car.

"I was wondering if you had gone home or something." She commented, allowing herself to be led into the living room.

"No, I was just thirsty. You guys should really stock up on some scotch. Single malt, preferably older than you are."

"I'll be sure to mention it to Jenna." Elena smirked at the request.

"Nevermind, I'll bring it myself next time." He shrugged it away. "What about you, couldn't sleep?" Damon wrapped an arm around her, holding her close.

"I fell asleep fast enough, but I woke up and you were gone and… I couldn't quite drift off again."

Damon's mouth curled up into a smile. _She missed him being there beside her whether she admitted it or not. _It was a small victory, but it meant something to him. She'd missed him.

"What are you smiling about?" Elena fixed him with a dubious look.

He couldn't help but share his newfound realization with her, it just made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside to rub her nose in it. "You miss having me here, that's why you couldn't sleep tonight."

"Don't be silly…"

"I've been there with you every night since before you broke up with Stefan." Damon interrupted.

"Since before I broke up with him?" She blinked.

_Busted._ "I wanted to make sure you were okay…" Though he had rarely done more than watch her sleep, apart from the occasional influencing of her dreams… That reminded him... but for now he had to divert her attention from anything that would land him in the dog house. "That and you make the cutest sounds when you sleep."

"What?" Her voice came out in a squeak.

"Yeah kinda like that, but you have his one sound… it sounds like a chipmunk, well a pair of chipmunks fighting over an acorn…"

"I do not!" Elena smacked him playfully and Damon laughed, letting her chase after him as she giggled too.

"Okay a pair of squirrels then." Damon caught her up in his arms and kissed her senseless until she forgot what he was teasing her about. When he drew back she had a bemused expression on her face, her lips looking flushed and delectable.

On impulse, he asked the question that had been building for some time now. "Maybe you should move in with me? We could get our own place, Stefan wouldn't be invited and I wouldn't have to sleep with one eye open."

Elena's jaw dropped. "Move in with you?" She whispered.

Damon could see the gears spinning in her head and talked fast. "I know, it hardly seems proper during a courtship, but then again, neither is spending every night in your bed with you. But I have been a perfect gentleman, have I not? He pointed out.

"Well… that's true. But I don't think I could do that, I'm not eighteen yet, we would need Jenna's permission and something tells me she's not gonna be too hot on the idea."

"I don't see that as being a problem." Damon shrugged easily.

"No, no compelling." Her finger came up to wag at him.

Damon scowled at that, she was being a real stickler for that but they were running out of options at keeping her aunt from finding out about everything going on under her nose. Then again… "We really should give some thought to telling Jenna about everything, you know? After all, her nephew is a vamp, her niece is in love with one…" He watched her carefully, wondering if she'd contradict him at that last.

Elena's head came up sharply, her expressive face taking him through her range of emotions. "Yes, we should tell her." She said simply.

If he had a heart beat it would be going a mile a minute. "Are you saying that you… love me?" He'd known she wanted him, and she said she had feelings; but it was too much to hope for that she might well and truly love him.

"Yeah, I think I am. I am." She nodded slowly. "You can thank Stefan for helping me realize that by the way."

Damon's eyes closed, not even caring that she'd pushed Stefan's name into the conversation. His jaw worked as he swallowed back the lump in his throat and touched his forehead to hers. "Elena…" He began, searching for the right words. "All kidding aside with this courting business, I don't often say what I'm feeling, really feeling. Chalk it up to years of being alone, of having my heart ripped out of my chest and building a wall around the hole… but I'm not that guy, I don't do declarations of love."

"I think you just did." She said softly, reaching up to cup his cheek.

Gathering her into his arms, Damon held her tight. "Yeah I did." He breathed into her hair. Elena was everything to him and it scared the hell out of him. For a man who liked to be in control of everything this vulnerability was bordering on torturous.

Clearing his throat, Damon focused on the mundane issues at hand, namely how to protect Elena. "We'll talk to Jenna soon. Let her know what's been going down. Figure something out where we don't have to sneak around so much. Unless… you want to sneak around, cause that can be fun too." He grinned.

Elena nodded, pulling back to look at him, her eyes shiny with emotion. "No, I don't want to sneak around. We have nothing to hide, right? But we should talk to Jeremy first, see if he wants us to tell her about him too."

"Why would he care? It'll just make life easier for him. She'll stop ragging on him for being such a slacker and sleeping all day." Damon shrugged.

"Still, he deserves that common courtesy, don't you think?"

Damon could give a crap about showing Jeremy courtesy but he remained silent on the subject, giving her a bland smile. "If you say so."

"I do." Elena smiled. "And I think it would be a good idea for Alaric to be here, for moral support."

"Ric to the rescue… yeah sure, why not. Anyone else you want to drag into it? Matt? We could prop Caroline up in the corner…"

"No, that's it." A laugh left her lips at his expression. "Come on, let's get you up to bed and out of sight before Jenna gets home."

"I won't say no to that." Damon grinned, pulling her into his arms and then rushing them at super speed to her bedroom and depositing her on the bed. She was so beautiful… her hair streaming across the pillow, her lips parted in a surprised laugh at the sudden move. It took all the restraint he possessed not to tumble her onto her back and kiss away all of her inhibitions. "God you're killing me…"

"What?"

"Nevermind." He replied through gritted teeth, stretching out on his side of the bed, his arm going around her automatically where she snuggled into his side. It was amazing how just a few weeks ago he might have been content with just that simple contact. But the closer he got to Elena, the closer he wanted to get to her. Having her right there, warm and clinging to him put all manner of ideas into his head and he worked hard to push them aside and enjoy what he had. She loved him, he couldn't ask for more than that, could he? Still… sleep was a long time in coming.

*** back from commercial ***

Jeremy stood next to the little Ford Fiesta that he'd crashed into the tree. It had been easy enough to prop down the gas pedal with Steve in the driver's seat, only the crash hadn't been spectacular enough for the damage needed. An extra punch was given to the cracked windshield and like art, he'd arranged Steve half hanging outside, his torn neck at the line of jagged glass. A fire would have been better still, but the little car showed little sign of obliging him and Jeremy was wary of helping it along overmuch for fear of contaminating the accident scene even more.

With a growing sickness, he stood and watched the scene, the realization that he was utterly responsible for this loss of life weighing heavily on him. Unable to resist, he reached into Steve's back pocket and withdrew his wallet.

Steve was Steve Nelson and he lived on Market Street. He also was a member of AAA, Blockbuster Video and he liked to shop at Safeway. A sudden impulse to check for cash repulsed him enough to drop the wallet, and a little square of paper fluttered onto the low grass. Turning it over, he saw a picture of a pretty blonde and a little girl waving at the camera with big smiles. Was this his wife and child? A feeling of remorse swept over him, and the next thing he knew, Jeremy was on the ground, his legs folded under him.

There were no tears… his sadness was too profound for that. Again the desire to turn off his feelings seized him but he dismissed it just as quickly. He wanted to feel this pain, needed to… if only to remember the price of his carelessness. This wife and daughter would never see Steve walk in the front door, tired from his crappy job but still glad to see them.

All because of him.

Jeremy picked up the wallet, about to tuck the picture back inside, but instead he shoved it into his own pocket before replacing the wallet in Steve's pants. He didn't look back as he walked away from the car, shoulders bowed, hands in the pockets of his hoodie.

*** back from commercial ***

It was near dawn when Stefan stumbled to the front steps of the boarding house. Running on fumes, only stubborn determination had kept him going, doggedly placing one foot in front of the other.

At the sound of his step on the porch, Bonnie threw the door open, a cry of alarm leaving her lips at taking in his state. "Stefan! Oh god what happened to you?" Tears sprang to her eyes as she went to his side, an arm already moving to shore him up against her when she spotted the stake and gasped.

"Pull… out…" Stefan croaked, crashing in a heap to the ground, no longer able to take another step.

Bonnie wrapped her hand around the piece of wood and pulled, dismayed to find how deeply it was embedded into his shoulder. Using her other hand, she tried again, pulling with all of her strength until the stake came free with a sickening sound and it clattered to the porch from her nerveless fingers. "Who did this to you?"

"Elena…"

The word barely reached her ears, and Bonnie's eyes widened in response. She'd expected him to say Damon or even Alaric or some council member who'd been at the wrong place at the wrong time but Elena? A terrible darkness began to spread within her, eyes narrowing to slits. Elena would regret trying to take Stefan from her…

Stefan looked pale, so very pale… "Stefan, you have to feed." Already pulling her hair back from her neck, she pulled at the bandage there from their tryst the night before. "Stefan?"

Stefan merely laid there, for all appearances a corpse.

Nails raked at the healing skin, drawing blood and Bonnie leaned close, droplets of blood from her newly reopened wound dripping onto Stefan's mouth. "Come on Stefan… come on…" She murmured, waiting for his instincts to kick in.

With a sudden growl, Stefan's mouth fastened above her wound, teeth piercing her skin with a savage ferocity. Bonnie screamed in response, the pain blotting out the normal rush of pleasure she felt when he fed from her. But she hung onto him, knowing that he needed this, needed her.

On and on he drank, until her vision started to dip and sway. "Stefan…" She called out, pressing her hands to his shoulders weakly. "Too much…"

And still he drank, in the grips of blood lust, her struggles causing him to pin her beneath him, rubbing against her as another kind of desire was fueled. Easily holding both of her wrists with one hand, his other delved deep below, tearing delicate cloth and working to free himself. In one powerful surge he took her, and Stefan rutted above her in a haze of blood and power, oblivious to her weakening sobs of protest. When at last he was sated, Stefan rolled off to his side, his breathing ragged as he came down from the high.

A roll of the shoulders proved the stabbing wound sore but not life threatening, and he had Bonnie to thank for that. Feeling pleasantly drowsy now, he pressed a kiss to Bonnie's shoulder. "Thank you." He said softly, brows drawing together as she didn't turn to face him. "Bonnie?" Gently, he reached for her chin, coming face to face with her sightless eyes. _Oh god… what had he done?_

**A/N: So yeah, Stefan's gone way out of control. Aw poor Bonnie… you guys can tell I don't particularly like her either, right? Lol. All I could think about while writing this end was… holy crap, that could have been Elena! Good thing she dumped him when she had the chance! But don't worry, Bonnie's not quite out of the picture just yet…**

**Feedback is love people **


	26. The Intervention

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**.

**Wow, you guys really don't like Bonnie either huh? Message received, thanks for all the great feedback! ****I did want to acknowledge that yes, more than likely Bonnie did have some of Stefan's blood in her when she died, so she is not out of the picture yet, but this chapter ended up being longer than I'd planned, so I haven't gotten to that part yet. **

_With a sudden growl, Stefan's mouth fastened above her wound, teeth piercing her skin with a savage ferocity. Bonnie screamed in response, the pain blotting out the normal rush of pleasure she felt when he fed from her. But she hung onto him, knowing that he needed this, needed her. _

_On and on he drank, until her vision started to dip and sway. "Stefan…" She called out, pressing her hands to his shoulders weakly. "Too much…" _

_And still he drank, in the grips of blood lust, her struggles causing him to pin her beneath him, rubbing against her as another kind of desire was fueled. Easily holding both of her wrists with one hand, his other delved deep below, tearing delicate cloth and working to free himself. In one powerful surge he took her, and Stefan rutted above her in a haze of blood and power, oblivious to her weakening sobs of protest. When at last he was sated, Stefan rolled off to his side, his breathing ragged as he came down from the high. _

_A roll of the shoulders proved the stabbing wound sore but not life threatening, and he had Bonnie to thank for that. Feeling pleasantly drowsy now, he pressed a kiss to Bonnie's shoulder. "Thank you." He said softly, brows drawing together as she didn't turn to face him. "Bonnie?" Gently, he reached for her chin, coming face to face with her sightless eyes. Oh god… what had he done? _

* * *

This wasn't his normal thing, but Damon promised to be on his best behavior as the gathering took place to acquaint Jenna with the vampire facts of life. In particular he wanted to be there in case things spiraled out of control to fix the situation if necessary; Jeremy was just too green to pull off a complicated compulsion that would last as long as a true memory.

Jeremy lounged, one leg bobbing restlessly over the arm of the chair. Elena paced back and forth in the entryway, waiting for Alaric to bring Jenna back to the house after dinner.

"Okay sit down or I'm gonna handcuff you to the couch." Damon called out finally, her nerves getting on his.

Elena stopped pacing to give him an odd look. "Do you even have handcuffs?"

"I can show you later…" Damon's brows waggled at her suggestively, even though they both knew it was just a bluff. Though they had grown closer than he'd dared hoped in the past few days, their physical relationship was nowhere near where he wanted it to be.

"Please…" Jeremy made a gagging sound. "That is _so_ not a picture I need in my head right now." He grumbled.

"Then run along and play in traffic while the big kids talk." Damon smirked with a fraction of his old condescension, but there was no real bitterness to his tone. Jeremy was starting to grow on him; filling that void for an annoying little brother since Stefan had taken his turn for the dark side.

"Screw you, she's _my_ aunt, I have more of a right to be here than you do." Jeremy retorted.

"No thanks, I'm saving myself for your sister." Damon blew a kiss to Elena who looked less than amused but at least had stopped pacing to lean against the wall, her arms hugged tight to her body. "Elena come here." He patted the cushion beside him on the couch.

With a last look to the door, Elena did as he bid her, sinking onto the seat beside him.

Damon immediately pulled her into the shelter of his arm, tucking her head onto his shoulder. "You don't have to worry so much, Jenna's tougher than you think, she'll take it just fine." Kissing the top of her head, he could feel that she was a bundle of nerves, and shifted his hold on her to lightly massage where her shoulder met the neck. "Just relax…"

Elena made a soft sound at his touch, her tensed muscles starting to let go under the gentle pressure. "Mmm that feels good." She murmured, her eyes sliding shut.

Responding to the tone in her voice, Damon's other hand joined the first, tenderly kneading her tensed muscles. It occurred to him that this might very well be the way to kick their physical relationship to the next level. She didn't seem adverse to his touch, in fact… from the noises she was making, she quite enjoyed it.

Jeremy gave another grimace of distaste over the display. "Call me when the show's about to start." He rose from the chair, but just then the front door swung open, Jenna and Alaric stepping through, mid laugh over something.

"Hey guys, are you having a night in tonight?" Jenna asked with a smile, hanging her light wrap on the banister.

"Jenna." Elena tore herself from Damon's grasp, lurching to her feet. "You're here."

"Yeah, I live here." Jenna gave her a puzzled look, not quite sure how to interpret Elena's tone. "What's going on?"

"We wanted to talk to you…" Elena gave a helpless look to Jeremy and Damon, not sure how to begin now that they had Jenna's attention.

Alaric came to the rescue then, guiding Jenna into the living room by her elbow. "We all wanted to talk to you; about some things that have been happening lately, things you should know about." He said gently, looking to Elena to elaborate further.

"Right, some things you should know about." Elena gave Damon a quick glance for support.

Damon gave her a slight nod, remaining silent for now. If it was left to him, he would just blurt it out, flash her a bit of fang to seal the deal and save an hour of discussion, but if he knew his little cream puff she'd dance around the subject to death before she got to the point. Still, it was her show, he was just there for support and muscle if need be.

"Wait… this isn't about that courting thing is it? You're not running off to get married are you?" Jenna looked alarmed at the notion, looking between the young couple. "Because no way are you blowing off school for anything." A note of indignance crept into her voice.

"What? No, that's not…" Elena shook her head, "It's nothing like that."

_Yet…_ Damon thought to himself, but remained silent.

"Okay then… spill." Jenna looked at them expectantly.

"You might have noticed that things around Mystic Falls are a little… off sometimes." Elena began, ignoring Jeremy's snort at her choice of words. "People go missing and there are a lot of deaths attributed to animal attacks." She made little air quotes with her fingers.

The subject clearly got Jenna's attention and she nodded slightly, indicating that she should go on.

"What you might not know is that there are vampires living in Mystic Falls." Elena paused to get her reaction to that statement.

"Elena I'm pretty sure that if there were vampires in Mystic Falls I'd know about it." Jenna scoffed, and Damon coughed into his hand to hide the smirk there.

"Well now that's the thing Jenna… you don't know about it because they're able to influence us, cover their tracks… they take their secrecy pretty seriously." Alaric interjected, the calm cool voice of reason, it sounded perfectly plausible from his cultured good looks.

"You believe in this stuff too?" Jenna turned to Alaric in surprise, his words carrying more weight with her given their growing relationship.

Alaric made an uncomfortable sound and cleared his throat to cover it up. "My first wife Isobel…"

"Yeah? What about her?" Jenna blinked.

"She disappeared years ago, but what I didn't know was that she was turned…" His eyes flicked to Damon's, the accusation not quite gone from them even though they'd come to an understanding over time. "and has been living as a vampire this entire time."

Conflicting emotions crossed over Jenna's face, running the gamut from disbelief to fear and then the beginnings of acceptance. "She's a vampire? But Ric… how do you know?"

"Because I've seen her, spoken to her and other vampires in town." Alaric answered patiently, but it was clear that the conversation with Isobel had disturbed him.

"Just how many vampires are there in Mystic Falls?" Jenna's voice rose a fraction.

"More than you might think." Damon muttered.

"And all of you know about this how exactly? Because of Alaric's ex-wife?" Jenna's brows drew together in confusion.

_My mother…_ but Elena didn't choose to point that our just then. "Because I've been involved with vampires for a while now." She said softly. "I didn't say anything because I didn't want you to worry and I wanted to protect their safety."

"You wanted to protect _their _safety?" Jenna let out a short laugh. "I don't get it."

"Stefan is a vampire." Elena blurted out, her cheeks flushing.

Jenna's mouth formed a perfect "o" but no sound came out.

Quick to fill the silence, Elena forged on. "Not all vampires are evil or violent, and Stefan was different." She spoke of him almost as though he was dead and in a way he was to her now. "He didn't feed from humans and for a long time, things were good between us. Like I said, I didn't want you to worry, so I didn't tell you."

"Stefan…" Jenna blinked rapidly, trying to assimilate the idea. "And you knew about this?" She turned to Alaric.

"I did." He said gravely. "And I believed that he truly posed no threat to Elena, he loved her, or I would have done all I could to keep her safe, I promise you that."

"So what's changed then? If Stefan is such a good guy then why are we having this talk? And if he loves you so much then why are you… oh god…" Her eyes swung to Damon's face then. "You're a vampire too then aren't you?" Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"Uh oh, busted." Damon leaned forward and said in a stage whisper, but the look on Elena's face kept him from continuing in that vein. "Actually yes I am, but before you get your panties in a bunch you can just chillax, I'm not gonna eat Elena or you either for that matter. In fact… there's nothing I wouldn't do to protect her." He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her back down on the couch protectively, possessively, re-staking his claim.

Jenna couldn't help but recoil a little regardless and it was Alaric's comforting arm around her that kept her in her seat. "So… Stefan and Damon both… anyone else I should know about?" Her eyes went to Alaric, half afraid he'd sprout fangs and come out of the coffin as well.

"Well actually Aunt Jenna…" Jeremy had remained silent for the conversation, watching Jenna's reactions intently. Now he sat perched on the arm of the chair, his eyes dropping to study his shoelaces in apparent fascination. "I'm a vampire too."

"What?" The color drained from Jenna's face, clearly not expecting that revelation. It was one thing to know that an acquaintance was a vampire, but her own nephew? "How did that happen?" Her eyes flew to Damon's face in accusation.

Damon's hands came up in supplication. "Hey, I had nothing to do with it, junior chose this path all by his lonesome."

"Jeremy… you chose this?" Jenna's jaw dropped.

Jeremy rubbed at the back of his neck, uncomfortable at rehashing his reasons for doing what he'd done. "I was in a bad place. Vicki… she had been turned and died. Anna… she was a vampire and was murdered on Founder's day. Uncle John was dead, mom and dad… I just… wanted it all to go away. So I drank some of Anna's blood and took some pills…"

Jenna's face crumpled as she tried in vain to sort through her heavily altered memories of the past few months. Unfortunately her mind had been meddled with heavily in that time and she only remembered bits and pieces of what he was talking about. She no longer had any memory of John's disappearance or death, nothing about Jeremy's death and disappearance from the morgue.

"It's normal that you don't remember any of this." Alaric said gently, his hand rubbing her back comfortingly. "We were just trying to keep you safe."

"Normal? You mean ignorant." Jenna scowled. "Since when did burying my head in the sand without my consent constitute keeping me safe?" She demanded.

"Jenna we were just worried that you would get too involved and end up like Uncle John." Elena added.

"Or were you just worried that I'd forbid you from dating a vampire? Were you really worried about me or yourself Elena?" Jenna challenged her.

"Hey, we did what we thought was best, so sue us." Damon shrugged, not liking to hear Elena attacked for her efforts to keep her Aunt's sanity intact. "What's done is done, so on to the bigger fish to fry."

"There's more?" Jenna's eyebrows climbed.

"Isn't there always?" Damon smirked, deciding to move things along a little. "Okay so the short and the skinny of it is, Stefan blew a gasket when Elena dumped him and he's become a threat to her and probably anyone in this house. Jeremy's really stepped up to the plate but he's no match for Stefan so… I've decided to move in for the time being so I can make sure that Elena stays safe."

Elena blanched, a little shocked by the blunt method he'd employed in laying out the facts. Even Alaric looked stunned into silence, only Jeremy's expression showed signs of amusement over the delivery.

Jenna looked like steam was about to come out of her ears. "You can't just move in like this, this is my house." She objected.

"Well now technically it's Elena's and Jeremy's and you're just holding it for them in trust." Damon smirked.

"How could you possibly know that?" Jenna blinked in surprise.

A shrug of the shoulders was given. "I've been to law school a time or two before."

Elena looked up at him in surprise. "You have?"

"I have skills you haven't even glimpsed yet." Damon gave her a heated look.

Jenna's hand went to her forehead as though it was starting to pain her. "Ok wait… regardless, I'm her guardian and I'm not so sure I want this sort of thing going on under my… our roof."

"Well you don't have any choice now do you? I won't take chances with Elena's life and more importantly, I like sleeping with her." He smirked.

Alaric, ever the peacemaker gripped Jenna's hand, keeping her from launching herself at Damon at that last remark, shaking his head over Damon's audacity.

"Sleeping Jenna! Just sleeping." Elena interjected, her face flushing bright red. "That's all it's been so far."

"So far." Damon waggled his eyebrows at her

"Keep it up and you're gonna be sleeping on the floor like a dog." Elena growled at him, delivering a sharp elbow to his ribs.

_God she was adorable._ "Look I don't like to have to lay down the law…" Damon changed his mind, "actually who am I kidding? I love to." He smirked. "But I don't actually care if it ticks you off or not. Elena is mine in every way that counts and I will protect her how I see fit."

"Here we go…" Jeremy muttered, knowing what was coming next.

"Hey, in case you hadn't noticed, I've protected myself just fine!" Elena jumped up indignantly, none too happy with his highhanded behavior. "I took care of Stefan the last time he was here."

"Wait, what does that mean?" Jenna interjected, trying to keep up with the conversation.

Damon ignored Jenna, too intent on Elena. "But you didn't kill him did you? Which means he's out there, wounded and pissed off to all holy hell. If he came after you before when you were kind, what makes you think he won't try it again now?" His eyes blazed with emotion as he willed her to understand the gravity of the situation. "He's been invited in Elena… he won't lull you with pretty words of apology next time. If it's revenge he's after he'll take it, I've seen him like this before."

Elena blinked at the fervor in his voice. "What do you mean you've seen him like this before?"

"After Katherine died… the first time we thought she was dead." Damon replied, dropping his gaze; it still pained him to talk about that time of his life.

"Who's Katherine?" Jenna asked.

"I was… devastated at the time, reeling with the changes and trying to cope with losing her, or what I thought her to be… I didn't want to see anyone, talk to anyone, I didn't want to feed or sleep…" Damon sighed. "But Stefan… he lashed out blindly. He wanted to make them pay for what they'd done to all the town vamps, to Katherine, to us." He swallowed.

"I know I've done some awful things in my lifetime, I'm not exactly the poster child for tolerance." Damon wasn't apologizing for it, just acknowledging the fact. "But Stefan… once he loses control… it takes something very, very momentous for him to regain it. I don't want it to be you." He pulled Elena back down into his lap, pressing his forehead against hers. "If I lost you…"

"You won't lose me." Elena's eyes drifted shut as well, tears welling behind her eyelids.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Jenna demanded, tired of people ignoring her.

Damon's jaw clenched and he pulled his head up to fix her with a stony stare. "Haven't I just been explaining it? Should I use smaller words?"

"Hey, not the best way to smooth over living here…" Elena poked him in the ribs. "I'm sorry Aunt Jenna, Damon's just… we've all been through a lot of stress lately with everything that's been going on."

"Stefan attacked her here last night, almost killed her too." Jeremy supplied. "Like Damon said, I tried to help her but he was too strong for me. I think we do need Damon here, at least until we can take care of Stefan. As much of a pain in the ass as he can be." He couldn't help but add as he rose to his feet, having given his two cents on the matter. "I'm gonna go out for a bit, I'll catch you guys later." Without waiting for a response, he was out the front door in a flash of speed.

"As much as I hate to say it, I think they're right, it's for the best if Damon stays here for the time being." Alaric added. "He's the only one who can stand up to Stefan at his worst."

This time Elena didn't argue, she remained on Damon's lap, her head resting against his.

"There's so much about this I don't understand…" Jenna muttered.

Alaric nodded, offering her his hand. "How about we go make a nice hot pot of coffee and I can fill you in on some of the bits and pieces that Damon left out of his… eloquent explanation?" Alaric gave Damon a look to let him know that he didn't appreciate the way he'd handled the situation so far.

Damon acknowledged the look with a slight tilt of the head but offered no apologies.

"Yeah okay…" Jenna's voice was slightly disgruntled as she allowed Ric to lead her from the room, one last look darted to Elena and Damon. "We're not done talking about this." She raised a finger in warning before she left.

"I thought they'd never leave." Damon slumped back into the couch, drawing Elena with him so that she laid against him.

"Well that could have gone better, no thanks to you." Elena pointed out, settling comfortably against him.

"What? You wanted to tell her the truth and we did. Problem solved." He gave a faint shrug.

"Did you ever think that it might not be the best course of action to piss her off if you're going to be living here? For someone who can be so charming when he wants to be, you sure didn't try very hard."

Damon was used to people being pissed off at him, it didn't faze him in the slightest, in fact, sometimes he liked it, depending on the person. But he realized with a small pang that it was distressing Elena. "It bothers you if we don't get along?"

"Does the word 'duh' mean anything to you?" Elena stared at him incredulously. "Do you seriously not get why?"

"I… guess I just didn't think much about it." Damon admitted, the beginnings of regret gathering in the pit of his stomach. So far he hadn't given much thought as to what it would mean to move into Elena's house other than the obvious of protecting her and that it would allow him to be near her. He hadn't given a single thought to how he would integrate into the household.

With a frown, he realized that he was going to have to figure out a way to play house with her family. "Alright…" He gave a long suffering sigh. "I will try and smooth things over with Jenna, I'll be my most charming self." Damon offered her a dazzling smile as an example.

Elena couldn't help but laugh at that, relaxing more against him. "Just try to get along, that's all I ask." She sighed happily, snuggling into his embrace.

Damon's arms tightened around her slightly in response, but he refrained from making any promises he had no intention of keeping. For the moment he would attempt to get along with these people for her sake, but inwardly he resolved to step up his timetable a bit. With any luck, it wouldn't be long before he could take things into his own hands and ensure that Elena would be safe and happy and hopefully… with him.

**A/N: Something about the idea of Damon trying to play house and fit in with Elena's family just makes me smile, I could almost write an entire fic about that alone. ****Any guesses as to what Damon has in mind to keep Elena safe? **

**Feedback is love people **


	27. Time to Say Goodbye

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**. **But I'd let Damon play house with me any day of the week…**

**Holy crap we're up to 400 reviews! Have I mentioned that you guys are the absolute best? This chapter came out a bit more melodramaculous than I'd first intended, but hey, it's not all hearts and flowers, right? **

"_Did you ever think that it might not be the best course of action to piss her off if you're going to be living here? For someone who can be so charming when he wants to be, you sure didn't try very hard."_

_Damon was used to people being pissed off at him, it didn't faze him in the slightest, in fact, sometimes he liked it, depending on the person. But he realized with a small pang that it was distressing Elena. "It bothers you if we don't get along?"_

"_Does the word 'duh' mean anything to you?" Elena stared at him incredulously. "Do you seriously not get why?"_

"_I… guess I just didn't think much about it." Damon admitted, the beginnings of regret gathering in the pit of his stomach. So far he hadn't given much thought as to what it would mean to move into Elena's house other than the obvious of protecting her and that it would allow him to be near her. He hadn't given a single thought to how he would integrate into the household. _

_With a frown, he realized that he was going to have to figure out a way to play house with her family. "Alright…" He gave a long suffering sigh. "I will try and smooth things over with Jenna, I'll be my most charming self." Damon offered her a dazzling smile as an example._

_Elena couldn't help but laugh at that, relaxing more against him. "Just try to get along, that's all I ask." She sighed happily, snuggling into his embrace. _

_Damon's arms tightened around her slightly in response, but he refrained from making any promises he had no intention of keeping. For the moment he would attempt to get along with these people for her sake, but inwardly he resolved to step up his timetable a bit. With any luck, it wouldn't be long before he could take things into his own hands and ensure that Elena would be safe and happy and hopefully… with him._

* * *

How long he sat on the porch cradling Bonnie's unmoving body, Stefan didn't know. When he did emerge from his stupor, his fingers moved over her face in surprise at finding her skin cold and wet… and it took him a few moments to recognize that he'd been weeping over her for some time.

Bonnie was gone, not a spark of life remained in her body and her sightless eyes stared back at him in silent accusation. A stark realization penetrated the fog in his mind; but for the grace of the powers that be… that could have been Elena lying dead in his arms.

His recollection of going to Elena's house was murky, filled with holes that his rage had punched through the memory. But he had a very clear image of her eyes, wide and terrified looking up at him as his hand had closed around her throat… Dear god… what had he almost done? The urge to rush over there and apologize, explain that he hadn't been himself drove him to his feet, but just as quickly he realized that she would never listen to him now. And that was probably for the best.

There were other things that needed his attention first, Stefan realized as he gathered Bonnie's still body into his arms and carried her into the woods. There would be no marker for her grave, no reminder to the world of what he'd done, no place for her family to mourn her passing; they would simply think she'd disappeared.

It was for the best.

Deep in the woods he dug, using his hands like an animal, his shoulder no longer paining him thanks to her sacrifice. His lips moved in silent prayer as Stefan placed her into the ground, pausing only long enough to close her eyes before he covered her body and camouflaged the site with pine needles and leaves.

Elena's last words came to him then, remembered through the fog of pain at being staked. Damon might very well want to kill him for what he'd done. And maybe… _that_ was for the best.

*** back from commercial ***

Jeremy sat alone in the corner booth at the Mystic Grill, his drink untouched as he stared down at the little rectangle of paper in his hands. Over and over, his fingers traced along the edges and back again as their smiling faces looked up at him.

No, not him.

They smiled at Steve who had been holding the camera, not him. They would never smile at him after what he'd done.

On the back of the photo were the names Holly and Kara with the date of a few months ago. Which one was which? On some instinct he imagined the mother was Holly and the little girl Kara. The pretty blonde woman looked like a Holly.

Holly was probably pretty worried by now that Steve hadn't come home yet, or then again… maybe Steve was the kind of guy who liked to go out drinking with the guys after work? Hell, maybe Holly would be glad to be rid of Steve? Maybe he was cheating on her? Maybe she was cheating on him? Maybe Kara wasn't even Steve's kid? The possibilities flew through his mind, each one more preposterous than the last and designed to absolve him of some amount of guilt.

The crazy train of thought was interrupted by the bartender who slouched over to give the warning for last call. "Closing up kid, you don't got to go home, but you can't stay here."

Jeremy opened his mouth for a moment, about to contradict him with a little burst of compulsion, but he lost his motivation. He didn't want to hang around the grill anyway, best to get out where he wouldn't draw so much attention to himself.

As he walked through the darkened streets, Jeremy felt the briefest of urges to go to the ruins of the church where he'd gone to hang out with Vicki a lifetime ago. Instead, his feet carried him to a lesser known part of town, the houses older and shabbier; streets darker and in disrepair. Once he might have feared being on such a street alone, late at night, but not now. Now he almost welcomed an attack, but the streets were quiet save the barking of an occasional dog.

Before long he stood outside the house, a tiny little bungalow really, the entire house would have fit into the ground floor of his house with room to spare, with a big overgrown lawn choked with weeds. Apparently Steve wasn't much for yardwork.

The house was dark, save for a single light coming from the rear of the house. Jeremy approached the house boldly but diverted from the front door to slip around the side, looking into the darkened windows. The living room was small, but neat as a pin, magazines stacked neatly on the cheap coffee table, toys relegated to a large bin at the end of the couch. The furnishings were obviously second hand store castoffs, nothing matched, and the carpet was threadbare and shiny in the heavy traffic areas.

Moving around to the back, he spotted the little girl's room, the corner of his mouth tugging up as he spotted the name KARA in bright construction paper letters above the door. He'd been right, Kara was the girl's name. Her bright curls shone in the darkness from the security of her bed. Steve or maybe Holly had spent a decent wad of cash on the girl's bed that was decorated to look like a castle, complete with a slide and a playhouse underneath.

Completing his circuit of the house, Jeremy saw that the backyard was also overgrown, plastic chairs flanking a rusted out barbecue grill. The light was coming from up ahead, a small bedside lamp in the master bedroom.

There was Holly inside, lying in bed with a paperback, a pair of wire rimmed glasses perched on her pert nose, blonde hair pulled up in a messy bun on top of her head. Deeply engrossed in the book, Jeremy watched the play of emotions across her face as she read, his own expression unconsciously mirroring hers.

*** back from commercial ***

Damon heard Jenna coming the moment she'd stepped out of bed, hoping she was just making a trip to the bathroom before falling back asleep, but no. Instead she came sneaking downstairs like a cartoon thief, taking exaggeratedly slow steps to be quiet. As if that could fool him.

"You're up late." He called out once she reached the kitchen.

Jenna's eyes flew wide, her hand clapping to her chest where her heart beat a fast tattoo. "God you scared me half to death!" She hissed. "What are you doing down here?"

"Sorry." Damon hid his smirk behind his mug, making the attempt to be good. "Same thing as you, raiding the fridge."

Jenna opened the refrigerator, grimacing as she spotted a row of blood packets sitting on a shelf. "When did those get there?"

"I thought it was a good idea to be prepared." Especially given Jeremy's earlier lapse.

"Well do you have to keep it right there right next to all the regular food?"

"Two out of four residents here _are_ blood drinkers…" Damon pointed out mildly, "but look I only took up that one shelf." Perfectly reasonable to his way of thinking and he gave himself a mental pat on the back for playing nice.

Jenna's eyes fell to the mug in his hands. "Is that what you're drinking now?" She asked, her voice fluttering with nerves.

"No, this is hot chocolate with marshmallows." Damon grinned, taking another sip.

"Oh." Taken aback, Jenna absorbed his response, giving a shake of the head over vampire habits. "That's just what I was gonna have." Moving with practiced ease through the kitchen, she turned the kettle on, retrieving her favorite mug, she went to the cupboard, frowning at what she found there, or didn't find. "How many did you have?"

"Huh?"

"Marshmallows, how many?"

"Um, I didn't count…" Damon was starting to wonder if she was always going to be this prickly to live with?

"Dammit those were my marshmallows!" She whirled to face him with an accusatory stare.

Christ on a cracker, it wasn't like her name had been emblazoned on the package or anything. "Don't have a cow, I'll get you some new marshmallows tomorrow." Damon promised, bewildered by the behavior of females. Was she going to cry now?

"That doesn't help me now." Jenna muttered, putting away the box of hot chocolate.

Who knew women could be so territorial about their marshmallows? Damon was sorely tempted to work a little whammy on her brain and smooth things over, but he'd promised Elena not to compel her any more. "Chill out sweetcheeks, it's just a bunch of marshmallows, just have your cocoa without them." He was about to retreat to the peace and quiet of Elena's room when something outside caught his attention. A feeling that something was off rather than actually hearing or smelling anything.

"Easy for you to say, you're the one who got to eat them." Jenna huffed. "You know, if you you're gonna live here, we're gonna have to set up some ground rules mister. For starters…"

"Shut up…" Damon's hand came up, his head canted to one side as his senses went into overdrive, trying to understand what he was picking up on.

Jenna's eyes bugged out, her face going red with anger and she spluttered impotently trying to get something appropriately insulting out in response. "I…"

Damon turned, his eyes blazing with anger, no longer having the patience to tread lightly with her. "Shut up and go upstairs. Something's wrong."

The words died on Jenna's tongue as she clued into the fact that something was afoot. Nodding faintly, she back out of the room, turning to run for the stairs once she was clear of the kitchen.

_Swell._ Now she was probably going to go and wake Elena up and she'd come running down to check out what was up and probably put herself in harm's way… he was definitely going to have to do something about this living situation sooner than later.

There was undeniably someone outside, someone not alive, someone who smelled of death. Throwing the kitchen door open wide, Damon was stunned to see Stefan standing on the other side of it, looking like he'd just lost a fight with a dirt devil. Recovering almost instantaneously from the surprise, Damon's lips curved into a feral grin as he grabbed his brother, flipping him into the room in a mighty arc. Stefan offered no resistance, his body flopping like a rag doll as Damon slammed him down on the kitchen floor.

"Oh you don't know when to quit do you brother?" Damon asked, fist cocking back to smash into Stefan's face with a satisfying thud. Again and again his fist rained down on Stefan's face, but the complete lack of any resistance made him hold off his assault. Knowing it could be a trick, but still confident in his abilities to best Stefan in combat, even with his brother back on human blood, he let go of him, rising to his feet to stare down at him.

"What are you doing here?" Damon demanded.

"I came to see Elena."

"Not a chance in hell." Damon informed him almost cheerfully, picking up a wooden chair, he slammed it over Stefan's torso, the lower wooden rung pressing painfully against Stefan's throat as he straddled it backwards, arms resting on the back of the chair. While it wouldn't suffocate him as it would a human, he could tell it was damned painful. "You must have known I'd be here with her, you must have known I'd never let you hurt her again."

"I… counted… on it." Stefan wheezed, still needing some air to make his words sound out properly.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? "You have a sudden death wish? Because I'd be happy to oblige." Damon grinned down at him.

"Go ahead." Stefan's eyes were dull as he looked up at him. "I deserve it."

"You think I won't? Just because you're pulling the sad puppy dog eyes? Or do you think Elena's gonna show up and save you?"

"Not gonna happen." Elena's voice came from the doorway and Damon could have sworn she was Katherine for a moment from the cold tone in her voice and the way her eyes lit upon Stefan with disgust.

That alone made Damon ease up on the chair. It was one thing for him to take his revenge on Stefan, quite another for her to cheer him on from the sidelines. He didn't want that for her, and in this case protecting Elena entailed protecting her from herself; from something she might come to regret someday. "You wanted to see Elena, so you've seen her. Say your goodbyes." He rose to his feet and tossed the chair aside carelessly.

"I don't want to hear anything he has to say." Elena's eye remained full of scorn. "If he feels like talking he can go talk to Bonnie."

"Bonnie's dead." Stefan slowly rose to a sitting position, his hand rubbing at his sore neck.

That seemed to penetrate the haze of anger that had taken hold of Elena, her face crumpling at the news. "She's dead?"

Stefan nodded, unable to meet her gaze.

"You sonofabitch, you killed her?" Elena launched herself at Stefan then, but Damon was faster, easily catching hold of her and bringing her into the shelter of his arms; holding fast to her while she spent the worst of her rage and went limp in his arms, weeping softly for the girl who had been her best friend since they were in grade school.

"I came to say goodbye, to say I'm sorry, for everything..." Stefan shuffled to his feet, eyes flicking up to meet Damon's for a long moment, and Damon knew exactly what had happened.

"Don't make me regret letting you go like this little brother." Damon's voice was calm, his meaning absolutely clear; if Stefan came back to trouble Elena in any way, he would not hesitate to kill him.

"I won't be coming back." Stefan exchanged a nod with him.

"Good…" Elena's voice was little more than a whisper, but both vampires heard it easily in the hushed kitchen.

Pain flickered over Stefan's features at that, but no more so than at seeing Damon comforting her. "Take care of her." He gave a final look to Damon.

Damon shot him a look that plainly said 'duh', but refrained from saying anything else. He didn't need any parting words of triumph or inflicted pain. Stefan was in a hell of his own making and for once, Damon didn't feel the need to make it worse on him. With Elena in his arms, he had finally won.

**A/N: Okay Stefan's out of the picture for good this time, I swear! LOL. Next chapter will be a little lighter, I promise! **

**Feedback is love people **


	28. At Last

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**. **But I'd let Damon steal my marshmallows any day of the week…**

**Glad you guys thought it was amusing that Jenna got so mad about Damon stealing the last of the marshmallows but hey, things have almost devolved into fist fights in my house over who got the last leftover Taco Bell burrito before, so I draw from my own experiences. **

**Warning there is mature content in this one so… yeah enjoy. **

"_I came to say goodbye, to say I'm sorry, for everything..." Stefan shuffled to his feet, eyes flicking up to meet Damon's for a long moment, and Damon knew exactly what had happened. _

"_Don't make me regret letting you go like this little brother." Damon's voice was calm, his meaning absolutely clear; if Stefan came back to trouble Elena in any way, he would not hesitate to kill him. _

"_I won't be coming back." Stefan exchanged a nod with him. _

"_Good…" Elena's voice was little more than a whisper, but both vampires heard it easily in the hushed kitchen. _

_Pain flickered over Stefan's features at that, but no more so than at seeing Damon comforting her. "Take care of her." He gave a final look to Damon._

_Damon shot him a look that plainly said 'duh', but refrained from saying anything else. He didn't need any parting words of triumph or inflicted pain. Stefan was in a hell of his own making and for once, Damon didn't feel the need to make it worse on him. With Elena in his arms, he had finally won. _

* * *

Jenna added a layer of slick gloss to her lips, pressing them together experimentally as she surveyed the overall effect in the mirror. _Not too shabby_… she smiled at herself. A quick glance at the clock showed she still had about fifteen minutes before Ric was due to arrive.

The ring of the doorbell proved her wrong and she went to answer it, expecting to see Alaric's handsome face, stunned into speechlessness at how smoking hot she was looking that evening… well a girl could dream, right? Instead, there was a uniformed delivery driver waiting with a dolly full of large boxes and a clipboard in hand.

"Jenna Sommers?" He inquired politely.

"Ah… yeah." She took the offered clipboard and signed her name dutifully.

"Where do you want them?" He asked expectantly.

"Them?" Just how many boxes was she getting? "Um, right in here." Jenna stepped back to let him into the house, indicating anywhere there was open space.

"Great, thanks." Without waiting any further, he brought in the stack of boxes and set them down against the wall. "I'll be right back with the rest."

Jenna stepped out of his way, checking out the return address for the box on top. All of the boxes appeared to be from The Carlton Hotel in New York… she'd never heard of it.

There were eight boxes total by the time he wheeled away his dolly and Jenna was stumped as to who could be sending her so many boxes from New York City.

"What's all this?" Alaric asked, strolling through the open door. "You're not packing up and moving away, are you?"

"No, fat chance of that. These just came, shipped overnight from New York, I have no idea what's in them." Jenna admitted.

"Only one way to find out." Ric withdrew his keys and opened a small utility knife hanging on the chain and handing it over to her. "Unless you'd rather open them in private?"

"No, of course not, I don't have any secrets, unlike _some _people." Jenna smirked, accepting the knife and slitting open the top box. Inside was an array of gourmet hot chocolate mixes from around the world.

"Did you order these?" Alaric asked in confusion.

"No." Jenna remarked absently, opening the next box. It was also filled with another array of hot chocolates, even more exotic than the first box.

"Who would send you a bunch of hot chocolate?"

"I think I might know." Jenna smiled faintly, continuing to open boxes, searching for some kind of note. There wasn't any card or explanation but she soon found herself with three large boxes of various cocoas and five boxes of marshmallows in every shape and size imaginable, bringing a chuckle to her lips. "This is Damon's way of apologizing I think."

Alaric smirked at the mention of the vampire. "What's he done that needs apologizing for?" He asked mildly.

"Nothing really." Jenna immediately laid a soothing hand on Ric's arm. "He just ate the last of my marshmallows and we sort of… argued or were about to when Stefan showed up. I think this is his way of making it up to me."

"Stefan was here?" His body instantly tightened with tension, no longer amused. Damon hadn't mentioned that little tidbit to him.

"Yeah but don't worry, he's gone for good now. I'll tell you all about it over dinner if you like." She offered.

Alaric eased at that, laying a hand over hers. "Alright, are you ready to go? You look sensational by the way." He leaned down to deliver a lingering kiss to her cheek.

Jenna beamed at the compliment. "Let me just grab my purse and we can go."

Damon hovered by the top of the stairs watching the exchange. Once Jenna had left the room he came down a few steps. "Did she like it all?" He asked softly.

"You bribed her with eight boxes of cocoa and marshmallows?" Ric shook his head slowly.

"You said to buy her some more." Damon pointed out. "That she'd appreciate the gesture. So… I decided to build up a few brownie points for the next time I tick her off." It made perfect sense to him.

"You could just consider not ticking her off in the first place." Alaric pointed out with a wry twist of the lips.

"Where would be the fun in that?"

*** back from commercial ***

Damon returned to Elena's room, twin mugs of steaming hot chocolate, liberally sprinkled with mini marshmallows in his hands. Having learned the power that this magic elixir seemed to hold over the female persuasion, he had decided to use it to his advantage.

"Did Jenna take off on her date with Alaric?" Elena asked, tucking away her journal into a dresser drawer.

Eyes flicking to the diary, Damon was tempted to read it sometime, but dropped the thought for the moment with the real thing before him. "Yep and Jeremy's out doing whatever it is he does at night." As long as it didn't trouble Elena he could care less what that was.

"Thanks." Elena accepted the mug of cocoa, setting it down on her bedside table before it burned her fingers. So are you going to move back into the boarding house now that Stefan is gone?"

He'd wondered if she would bring that up and set down his own mug even though the temperature didn't bother him in the slightest. "No, my place is here with you." Damon replied, resting his hands on her hips.

"But… I'm safe now that Stefan's gone, there's no real reason for you to be here." There was a trace of vulnerability in her eyes that he thought he understood the root cause of. She was afraid he would leave now that the danger had passed.

"There's every reason for me to be here." Damon smiled, tugging her closer and laying claim to her lips. Pressing his advantage, wooing her with his mouth and hands, he gently backed her towards the bed as the kiss turned carnal, practically tasting her surrender in the kiss.

Everywhere he kissed her felt tingly and alive, and part of her was very, very interested in the way he made her feel. But was she really ready to take things to the next level with him? She loved him and he loved her, she knew that as well as she knew her own name. So why was she hesitating now?

Finding it difficult to let go and accept him the way he wanted her to, Elena pulled away from the kiss, pressing her forehead to his. She needed to think things through. "I can't… not like this… I'm not ready."

Clenching his teeth in frustration, both out of physical need to possess her and from his need to have her accept him, Damon closed his eyes as he tried to reign in the hot disappointment that sliced through him at being rebuffed again. A long deep breath was taken and expelled before he trusted himself to speak, not wanting to lose any ground already gained.

"What is it Elena? What's wrong? Don't tell me that you don't want me, you couldn't kiss me like that and not want me." He could feel her heart thudding beneath her breast, he affected her, Damon knew he did, so what made her pull away?

"I don't know… I just want everything to be perfect for our first time." She tried to explain.

Damon placed his hands along either side of her face, thumbs gently tilting her face up to look at his. "Elena haven't you learned by now, nothing will ever be perfect. There will always be someone after you or me, fights with your family, disappointments at school or work… life has a way of happening whether you want it to or not. All you can do is take these little moments and breathe, and appreciate what you do have. You have a lot."

"Wow, that was a pretty eloquent speech for basically wanting to get into my bed." She gave a pretty fair approximation of his usual smirk.

"I've already been in your bed, it's you I'm after." He flashed his eyes at her in the way he knew was hard for her to resist.

Elena's lips tugged into a regular smile as she reached up to press her hand to his cheek. He was right, what was she waiting for? "You already have me."

Something clever and witty flashed through his mind to reply, but with her lips right there offered for the taking, Damon couldn't resist any longer. He pressed his lips to hers gently this time, savoring the softness, the taste of her. He wanted her, he had since the day she'd pushed her way into his heart, and now he was going to make her completely his... whether or not the proper words had been spoken, right now she belonged to him and he was never going to let her go. Placing his arm under her legs, he lifted her as if she weighed nothing and laid her back onto the bed, covering her body with his.

After her initial surprise at the sudden shift she returned his kiss fervently, lips parting to accept him. Finally after everything that had kept them apart she was free to love him as she had in fevered dreams. "I love you… in case that wasn't absolutely clear." She smiled softly, fingers tracing the strong lines of his face.

Had he ever seen anything so beautiful? His fingers sifted through her dark hair, thumb tracing over her cheek in the lightest caress. "I love you too Elena. I'm not much of a hearts and flowers kind of guy, but I promise you this; I will always love you more than any other man ever has or ever will. You can count on that."

"I don't need flowers, all I need is you." She blinked up at him, eyes shiny with unshed tears of happiness.

There was more he wanted to say, but the words didn't come. Dumbstruck by her beauty and the sudden need to kiss her, he covered her mouth with his, reverently at first but with growing insistence as need took over. His hand found the hem of her shirt and slipped inside, fingers splaying over her smooth flesh. She was so soft…

All too happy to follow along with this course of action, Elena's hands dropped to the bottom of his shirt and she urged it upwards, barely breaking the kiss long enough to tug it over his head and toss it aside. She wanted to touch him everywhere at once, fair was fair after all…

Her enthusiasm kindled something inside of him, and his kisses became less tender, and more passionate as the need to possess her consumed him. The fabric between them became an unbearable barrier, he wanted to see her, touch her, taste her… learn all of the secrets of her body. Without stopping to think that he might be rushing her, he eased the shirt up over her head and flung it aside, eyes feasting on the delectable sight beneath him. "You are so beautiful…" Damon murmured.

"So are you." Elena breathed, wrapping her hand around the back of his neck possessively, craving that contact as she brought his mouth to hers again.

Damon growled against that show of possessiveness, even as he reveled in it, dominance eager to assert itself, he continued his exploration of her curves, unbuttoning the top of her jeans. He knew he should take things slow, but need was soon taking over as he longed to feel her bare skin beneath him as he nipped and kissed down the smooth column of her neck, tongue laving at her pulse that beckoned to him so seductively. Everything about her was delectable, and he found himself moving steadily southward to lay worship to her curves and hollows.

Just as filled with the need to touch him, her hands moved down to the stiff closure of his jeans, struggling with the stubborn buttonhole for a few moments before she was able to get the damn thing open and she gave a little cry of triumph, eliciting a muffled chuckle from him as his mouth pulled at her delicate flesh, nipping gently.

He had to cease his exploration then to help her get the jeans off of him, she couldn't reach very far beyond his hips in her position and then suddenly there they were with no barriers between them, and he stopped to appreciate her loveliness. Damon could imagine nothing more perfect than to claim her right then and there, the hell with ceremonies or formalities.

Elena felt no embarrassment under his gaze, she could see the love in his eyes and she felt beautiful and desirable in that moment. Reaching up, her fingers tangled in his hair, entreating him to come back to her embrace.

Damon grinned at the urgency he felt in her touch, but he was determined to make this a memorable experience for her. She wanted perfection… oh he would give it to her and then some. Each little gasp and sigh he wrung from her body flooded his with a stab of desire to be buried within her, but he was determined for her to find her pleasure first as a matter of male pride if nothing else.

Eyes tightly shut, Elena had no idea how closely he watched her, she was nearly insensate from the havoc he was playing with her body. "God Damon… please…" she pleaded with him finally, not quite sure what she was asking for, but knowing she couldn't stand teetering on the brink like this for much longer.

Her fevered plea was like music to his ears, and Damon positioned himself above her, unable to keep holding back any longer. "If you insist." His lips moved almost prayer-like as he finally claimed her, savoring how her body accepted him, as though they were made for each other.

The breath left her body in a sigh of pleasure and for a long moment, she forgot to breathe. Forgot there was anything in this world but the two of them and this exquisite joining. And then she moved and was reminded that there was so much more. Her head fell back against the bed, no longer able to kiss him as he started to move.

"God how I've wanted this, wanted you…" He groaned, loving the way she responded to him.

Her body sang under his attention, moving against him in a perfect counterpart. Thrilling at his voice at her ear she returned with a fevered whisper. "Love you… always love you." And then a ribbon of pleasure tore through her and she cried out sharply as she found her fulfillment.

At the moment she found her release, Damon's teeth sank into her throat, unable to hold back the overwhelming instinct to claim her in that way as well. His enjoyment soaring, he joined her in sweet oblivion as he drank from her, surrounding himself with her essence.

While Elena had been deep in the throes of her own peak, the moment his fangs pierced her skin she cried out almost in alarm as she flew even higher, the pleasure so keen she thought at one moment her heart might burst.

Damon felt her shudder beneath him and pulled his mouth from her flesh, cutting his own finger and mingling his blood with hers on the wound, watching as his powerful blood healed the wound before leaning down to lick the last delectable drop from her smooth unblemished skin. What they had shared had surpassed any experience he had ever shared before and he hoped like hell she wasn't having any regrets now. He looked down at her half lidded eyes, brushing the hair from her face. "Are you okay?" Christ had he really asked her that? Was he turning into a woman now? All this touchy feely stuff had him more than a little rattled.

"Better than okay." She replied, shifting against him with a happy sigh.

Relieved, he rolled to his side, bringing her with him. "Good." They hadn't talked about him drinking from her and while it had been the perfect ending for him, that didn't mean she was okay with it. But the way she cuddled right up to him and laid her head on his chest seemed to indicate she wasn't angry about it.

"Better than good too." Elena sighed again before giving a slight shake of the head. "We are so stupid."

Damon froze… was she having second thoughts after all? "What do you mean?"

"We could have been doing this the whole time." She breathed, her eyes drifting shut.

*** back from commercial ***

In the stillness of the woods came a keening cry, the sound of heart wrenching pain as Bonnie clawed her way up out of the soil. Driven half mad with the fear and torment of being buried alive coupled with the violent manner of her death, her eyes were wild and unfocused as she collapsed weakly atop the disturbed earth. Only one thought drew together the ragged edges of her mind, knitting them together with a singular purpose.

Revenge.

**A/N: So Elena finally came to her senses, what did you think? A long time coming but worth the wait, or too little too late? Poor things, I've tortured them plenty during this fic haven't I? And more to come…**

**I've got this story plotted out to the end now, just have to find the time to write it as I move into September and start writing my next book. As an aside, just want to give a shout out to Greenemage for building me my own website, how cool is that? Not that there's a ton of content on it just yet but there's a link on my profile file page here**** if anyone is interested. **

**Feedback is love people **


	29. Stupid Moves

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**. **But I'd let Damon bring me cocoa anytime…**

_What they had shared had surpassed any experience he had ever shared before and he hoped like hell she wasn't having any regrets now. He looked down at her half lidded eyes, brushing the hair from her face. "Are you okay?" Christ had he really asked her that? Was he turning into a woman now? All this touchy feely stuff had him more than a little rattled._

"_Better than okay." She replied, shifting against him with a happy sigh. _

_Relieved, he rolled to his side, bringing her with him. "Good." They hadn't talked about him drinking from her and while it had been the perfect ending for him, that didn't mean she was okay with it. But the way she cuddled right up to him and laid her head on his chest seemed to indicate she wasn't angry about it._

"_Better than good too." Elena sighed again before giving a slight shake of the head. "We are so stupid." _

_Damon froze… was she having second thoughts after all? "What do you mean?"_

"_We could have been doing this the whole time." She breathed, her eyes drifting shut. _

_*** back from commercial ***_

_In the stillness of the woods came a keening cry, the sound of heart wrenching pain as Bonnie clawed her way up out of the soil. Driven half mad with the fear and torment of being buried alive coupled with the violent manner of her death, her eyes were wild and unfocused as she collapsed weakly atop the disturbed earth. Only one thought drew together the ragged edges of her mind, knitting them together with a singular purpose. _

_Revenge. _

* * *

Jeremy found himself drawn back to the little house time and again, watching Holly and Kara from the shadows for reasons he couldn't understand. He'd seen Holly's eyes, red rimmed and raw with pain after she'd received the news about Steve's death, and he'd seen the little girl's swift acceptance of the facts, the permanence of the situation not sinking in to her young mind. He'd seen Holly stay up late into the night, staring sightlessly into space until the threat of dawn had driven him home.

Their pain had sharpened his feelings of guilt but he had welcomed it as a constant reminder of his weakness. With the blood in the fridge at home thanks to Damon and the occasional trip into the woods to satisfy the cravings of the hunt, Jeremy had steered clear of feeding from humans directly and didn't intend to do so if he could help it.

Avoidance of the sun had kept him from attending the funeral, but when he'd overheard mention of an evening memorial service, Jeremy had decided to attend; to what end he wasn't certain, he only knew that he had to go.

There were pitifully few people in the little chapel when he arrived and at first Jeremy thought he might have misheard the time. A picture of Steve dressed in his Sunday best sat on a small table by the pulpit, surrounded by flowers. The widow sat in the first pew, the little girl sat beside her, turning the pages of a picture book, her feet swinging freely, legs too short to reach the ground.

Jeremy took a seat in the last row, well away from the friends and family that talked softly among themselves. The minister seemed to make the decision that this was as good as it was going to get and moved to the podium, clearing his throat to stop the low talking. He delivered a standard sermon by rote, barely looking up from the written pages he'd prepared. There were few mentions of Steve personally, nor anecdotes provided to learn the measure of the man or mourn him specifically, but there were comforting platitudes offered aplenty. Finally with a hymn, everyone rose, filing up to shake Holly's hand and offer a few words of sympathy.

Holding back, Jeremy hovered between getting out of the sad little chapel as soon as possible and going up to look into the eyes of the people he'd hurt, offer what condolences he could. As he rose, he had almost decided that he would just slip out but instead his feet carried him to the front of the room where he stood uncomfortably, waiting his turn. Having no idea what he would say, he rehearsed a few words over and over again, trying them out and discarding them until finally he stood before the woman.

Holly looked up with a faint smile, her expression shuttered as if she was keeping a part of herself locked away from this public display.

The practiced words fell out of his head as soon as her gentle blue eyes met his. "I'm so sorry." He murmured, his voice rough with emotion.

It was the emotion that caught her attention, prompting her to ask further. "How did you know him?"

"From work." Jeremy lied glibly, it was what he'd been prepared to answer if asked.

"Oh." A little surprised to hear that given his youth, Holly accepted it as fact, having no reason to suspect a lie. "Thank you for coming, not many of his friends from work took the time to come down. Well, none actually." She gave him a sad little smile.

His brows quirked with pain at that. "What about family? I mean, I guess I didn't know him as well as I should have." _Or at all._

"Yeah his parents are here and his sister." She nodded towards a small cluster of people who were talking to the minister and Jeremy could hear them haggling over the price of the service given the poor turnout.

Disgusted, Jeremy turned his full attention back to her. "What about your family?" She seemed to be all alone now but for the little girl.

"Oh, well they live in Texas so… it wasn't easy for them to drop everything and come out. But you know, they might come for a visit real soon." She nodded and he wondered if she was trying to convince him or herself.

"That'll be nice." He rubbed at the back of his head, eyes dropping to watch Kara's bright curls as she intently studied the book she'd brought, ignoring the entire proceedings.

"Well thank you for coming, I should probably…" Holly made a vague gesture towards the door.

"Right, yeah of course." Jeremy nodded quickly, but something made him turn back. "Look, if you ever need anything… help with the yardwork or someone to watch Kara for a while or just to talk…" He offered awkwardly, scribbling his cell number down on a scrap of a receipt from his pocket.

"Um… yeah… okay, thanks, that's very sweet of you, ah… what's your name?" Holly accepted the number, looking at him a little oddly but there was a ghost of a smile on her lips.

"It's Jeremy." He could only imagine what she must think of the offer coming from a teenager like him, and one she'd never laid eyes on before. He could scarcely believe he's made the offer himself.

"I'm Holly, and this is Kara." She offered her hand and he took it after a moment's hesitation.

"Yeah I know." He said softly, holding onto her hand a little longer than was strictly necessary. _What was he doing?_ "Okay, well good bye." With an awkward half wave he turned and walked away without a further word, wondering if he'd just made a stupid mistake.

Holly watched him leave before turning back to Kara, slipping the number into her pocket.

*** back from commercial ***

"Tell me again why we have to go and do this?" Damon sulked as they walked through the corridors of the hospital.

"Because Caroline is finally awake and I haven't had the chance to visit her as much as I would have liked to this summer. Besides, I haven't got all that many friends left." Elena pointed out as they stepped into the elevator.

"It's not like she would have known how often you were down here. Hell just tell her you came every day, it'll make her happy to know she had such an impact on someone's life." He snorted.

"God you're awful." Elena rolled her eyes, but there was a smile on her lips.

"But you still love me… what does that make you?" Damon teased lightly.

"A masochist." Elena chuckled, tugging him off the elevator.

"Could be fun, maybe we can try that later?" He waggled his brows at her suggestively.

Instead of answering, Elena just gave him a mischievous smile of her own, eliciting a surprised look on his part. Chuckling over the reaction she got from him, she steered him towards Caroline's room.

"How about I just wait for you out here? I'm not exactly Caroline's BFF these days." Damon reminded her.

"Hmmm, good point. Alright, you're off the hook for today, but eventually you're going to have to try and get along with my friends."

"Maybe _I'm_ the masochist." He muttered, dropping into a chair to wait for her.

Elena just smiled, knocking softly on the door before entering, her smile broadening when she saw Caroline sitting up in the hospital bed, applying a coat of mascara. "Hey faker, I guess you found a way out of the summer reading program again, huh?" She teased.

"Elena! Oh my god I'm so glad you're here!" Caroline's face lit up. "I have been so bored, I can't even tell you. Did you know they only have five channels on TV here?" The pretty blonde complained, as though more traumatized by that fact than the weeks spent in the coma.

"Um yeah, I do seem to recall something like that." Thought it seemed like a lifetime ago that she'd spent real time in the hospital after her parents' death. "How are you though? You look pretty good for someone who's spent all summer in bed."

"I know right? The liquid diet is pretty awesome, I think it's like zero carbs." Caroline chattered in her usual tone before the façade started to crumble. "But seriously, I'm really glad you're here. Things have been…"

Elena sobered, not quite sure what to make of the shift in mood. "Why is something wrong? I mean apart from missing out on all the summer TV?"

"Yeah I mean I feel fine, pretty good all things considered, just a little achy and sore but they said that was normal and I have to go through some physical therapy." She made a face. "But ever since I woke up…" Her voice dropped conspiratorially, "I swear if you laugh…"

"I won't laugh Caro, you can tell me anything, you know that." Elena used the childhood nickname.

"I keep having these weird… dreams, only I'm awake." Caroline struggled with how to describe it. "It happens when I touch someone, like I see a little movie in my head about them, only it's too fast to figure out the plot. More like a trailer I guess." She frowned.

"You're having visions?" Elena's brows climbed in surprise, not having expected to hear something like that from her.

"Yeah, I guess you could call it that." Caroline nodded. "It's seriously creeping me out, and it doesn't happen every time so it's not like I can prepare for it or anything."

"Do you want to try it with me?" Elena offered, laying her hand on the blanket.

Caroline looked at her hand skeptically but nodded, taking a deep breath. "Okay." Her face squinched tight like she was expecting it to hurt, she laid her hand on top of Elena's. First one eye popped open and then the other and she looked back at Elena with a happy smile. "Nothing, not a thing." She reported, looking much relieved.

"Did you say anything to the doctors?"

"Hell no!" Caroline replied with a vehement shake of the head. "I want to go home, not straight to the loony bin."

"Yeah, I guess it would be the first thing they'd do after you wake up after a head wound, huh?" Elena considered aloud. "I'm sorry sweetie, it must be a lot to deal with." Leaning forward, she gave her friend a hug until she felt her stiffen in her arms. "What is it?" She asked, pulling back.

Caroline's eyes were wide and focused on some distant spot. It took her a few moments to shake herself out of it but she finally blinked and focused on Elena again. "Is something going on between you and Bonnie?"

Elena's brow creased with pain at the mention of the witch. "Um… why would you ask that?" Had she had a vision about her and Bonnie?

"I just… when you hugged me I just got like this flash and… it was like I could see her crazy mad and she was looking at you like she wanted to wring your neck. It gave me the creeps." Caroline shuddered.

Elena sucked her bottom lip between her teeth as she digested that. "God I don't know how to tell you this…" She hesitated but decided that Caroline would hear about it soon enough anyway and better to hear it from her. "Bonnie is dead."

Caroline gave an inelegant snort. "Yeah, way to screw with the coma girl. That's not funny Elena." She shook her head.

"I wouldn't joke about something like this. I have it on very good authority that she was killed." Stefan had been dead serious about it; she had seen it in his eyes. It had been the thing that had driven him back from the brink of madness.

"Bonnie was just here like an hour ago." Caroline insisted, her eyes narrowing at Elena.

"She was?" Elena's eyes widened in shock. "Bonnie was here? And she was walking around just fine?"

Now Caroline shook her head, reliving the memory in her mind. "Something was up with her too, she looked… different… wrong. I don't know what it was exactly, just a feeling I had." She focused on Elena again. "Look what's going on? And don't give me some bullshit excuse like you always do cause you think I can't handle it." Caroline looked at her squarely, determination showing in her delicate features.

Elena nodded slowly, she deserved to know. Nothing good had been gained from keeping all of this a secret anyway and from the way that Jenna had taken the news, she had the courage to share it with her last best friend.

In the most credible voice she could manage, Elena summed up the existence of vampires in Mystic Falls and just how she imagined that Bonnie had met her death at Stefan's hands. She could see the disbelief on Caroline's face and was just about to elaborate when Damon burst into the room, his expression thunderous.

"What the hell Elena, why didn't you just rent a billboard and tell the whole town while you're at it?" Damon demanded, having easily overheard the conversation and the mention of Stefan as a vampire.

Caroline's eyes flew wide and she recoiled into the pillow at the intrusion, staring at Damon with new eyes.

"She deserves to know, besides I think she's picked up a little something supernatural in that coma herself." Elena insisted.

"I can make her forget." Damon's icy blue stare swung over the blonde.

"Don't you dare!" Elena gasped.

Damon's eyes blazed and he looked like there was a lot more that he wanted to say about the subject. "Okay but if she goes tattling to mommy dearest and I get burned out, you have only yourself to blame." He muttered.

"She's not going to do that. Are you Caroline?"

Caroline was staring at Damon, the look on her face not at all reassuring.

"Caroline? You're not gonna tell anyone are you?" Elena asked again.

"You fed from me? You used me." Caroline accused Damon.

"Yes." Damon didn't apologize for his behavior, but he at least had the decency to look a little uncomfortable at the admission. Then his lips curved into his usual smirk, "But you enjoyed it.

"Give me one good reason why I should blow the whistle on you then." Caroline demanded, her eyes cold.

"Because I love him." Elena declared, and they both turned to her in surprise at the admission. Damon because he hadn't heard her say it aloud to anyone else before and Caroline because this was all new to her.

"What happened to Stefan?" Caroline asked, still confused over the sequence of events.

"There's a lot to tell." Elena sighed.

"I'm not going anywhere. Let's ring for some ice chips and you can tell me the whole thing." Caroline settled herself more comfortably against the bed.

Elena took a deep breath, looking to Damon who gave her a slight nod before leaning against the wall. "It all started back in 1864..."

Talking until she had to steal some of Caroline's water to soothe her throat, Elena looked at Caroline expectantly, wishing she could gauge her reaction to it all. "So?"

"It's a lot to take in." Caroline replied, looking very tired and thoughtful.

"Will you keep our secret?" Elena asked gently.

**A/N: I know, a stupid move on Elena's part to trust Caroline with the news, but people don't always do the smartest thing, do they? **

**Feedback is love people **


	30. Distractions

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**. **But Damon can be my distraction any day…**

"_Give me one good reason why I should blow the whistle on you then." Caroline demanded, her eyes cold._

"_Because I love him." Elena declared, and they both turned to her in surprise at the admission. Damon because he hadn't heard her say it aloud to anyone else before and Caroline because this was all new to her._

"_What happened to Stefan?" Caroline asked, still confused over the sequence of events._

"_There's a lot to tell." Elena sighed. _

"_I'm not going anywhere. Let's ring for some ice chips and you can tell me the whole thing." Caroline settled herself more comfortably against the bed._

_Elena took a deep breath, looking to Damon who gave her a slight nod before leaning against the wall. "It all started back in 1864..."_

_Talking until she had to steal some of Caroline's water to soothe her throat, Elena looked at Caroline expectantly, wishing she could gauge her reaction to it all. "So?" _

"_It's a lot to take in." Caroline replied, looking very tired and thoughtful. _

"_Will you keep our secret?" Elena asked gently._

* * *

"Come on, you need a distraction." Damon led Elena from the hospital, tucking her into the passenger seat of his car.

"I think I'm already a little distracted by all of this." Elena sighed, mechanically pulling on her seatbelt, more than a little worried as to whether or not she'd done the right thing in telling Caroline.

"Okay then, _I _need the distraction." Damon grinned, sliding into the driver's seat and starting the car.

They drove in companionable silence, each lost to their own very different thoughts. Gradually Elena came to realize that he was taking away from town, away from her house. "Where are we going?"

"Welcome back." Damon smiled over at her.

"Sorry, I guess I was lost in my own little world there for a bit." Elena gave him a sheepish grin. "Are we going to your place?" They hadn't been back since their first official date and she wondered when he had found the time to pack a picnic or anything. Or was he just in the mood for a drive?

"Yep, there's something I want to show you."

"Why does that make me nervous?" She teased, catching onto his lighter mood. Whatever it was, it was clear he was happy about it and she was eager for some good news.

As they turned onto the single lane drive that led to the property, Elena could tell that the road had seen a lot more traffic lately and bore the deep furrows of heavy treads of much larger vehicles.

Damon pulled the car into the large cleared area of tamped down earth which had only weeks before been choked with weeds. Now he shared the space with a myriad of trucks and service vehicles, the largest being a huge cement mixer that was backing up to the grounds.

"What is all this?" Elena's eyes flew wide at all the activity. There was a full construction crew hard at work, shattering the peaceful silence she'd been expecting, but the hustle and bustle of activity filled her with a different kind of excitement.

"Come take a look." Damon reached his hand out to her, face eager like a little boy.

Elena took his hand, accompanying him to where the main house had stood where workers had cleared away all of the debris and were engaged in pouring a new foundation by the look of things. The size of the new house looked like it would rival the old one but it was difficult to gauge much of the layout from the forms laid out in the ground.

"Oh my god, when did you have the time to do this?" She asked in wonder, watching the activity.

"It's amazing what 'money is no object' can do in a short amount of time. That and compelling my way out of a lot of unnecessary permits and bureaucratic bullshit." Damon smirked, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close while they watched.

_Money is no object_… was he really that well off? It amazed her that she was constantly finding out little tidbits of information about him. Just when she thought she knew all about him he threw her a curveball. "When did you decide to rebuild the place?"

"When I started thinking about the future instead of the past." He answered simply. "Come here, take a look a look at this." Damon led her to a trailer set up to the side of the property where the blueprints were laid out, as well as other schematics detailing the work to be done down to the finest detail. Excitedly he showed her the design for the house and the grounds. "It'll have a lot of similarities to the old place but with lots of new amenities, especially in the master suite, what do you think?" He stood back, watching her face for her reaction.

"I think… it's amazing." Elena took it all in, blown away by the grandeur of it all and how intimately involved he seemed to be with the design. "What's this here?" She pointed to the schematic.

Inordinately pleased at her interest, Damon turned a few pages to give another more detailed look at the room in question. "The library, I've always wanted a place to keep my books."

For the next half hour they talked about his plans for the house and the grounds and he questioned her closely for her input on the aesthetics.

"It looks like you're really settling in to the community for the long haul." Elena commented as they strolled outside, away from the construction, mirroring the path they'd taken on their last visit.

"Is there any reason that I shouldn't?"

"I dunno, I just wonder sometimes if it wouldn't be better to just pull up stakes and go somewhere where trouble will never find us." Elena sighed, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"No such place exists, Darlin'." Damon laid a kiss to her temple.

"But Bonnie…"

"We'll deal with it. Whatever she throws at us, we'll deal, it's what we do. Now that I have you, I have no intention of losing you, not now, not ever."

*** back from commercial ***

Jeremy took up his normal vantage point outside the little house, watching them go about their normal routine. Holly put the little girl to bed, reading to her from what sounded like a favored book about not being able to keep a squirrel as a pet. For reasons beyond his understanding it brought him comfort to see them going on with their lives. Hope maybe that he hadn't destroyed them with his carelessness. Still, something inside him ached to do more.

His cellphone vibrated then, surprising him into answering it, not recognizing the number on the display. "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Jeremy? This is Holly, we met the other night? At the…"

"Y-Yeah Holly, I remember." Jeremy stammered, stunned that she had called him. His eyes watched her move into the living room to curl up on the sofa with a lap blanket and a small container of ice cream, the phone to her ear.

"Oh good you remember me." She smiled on her end of the phone.

_As if he could forget…_

"I know it's a crazy thing to ask, I mean I don't even know you, but you did say to call you if I needed help."

"No of course, anything you need." He answered a little too quickly and saw her smile at his over-eagerness through the window.

"I was wondering if I could ask you to babysit Kara for me tomorrow. Just for a few hours in the afternoon." Holly brought a spoonful of ice cream to her mouth as she waited to hear his reply.

Afternoon would be hard for him to do, but he hated to say no…

She sensed him hesitate and shifted in her seat. "You know what that's ok, I know it's short notice." Holly tried to withdraw the request uncomfortably.

"No I'll do it." Jeremy interjected quickly. "Only, could you bring her over to my place? I have something I have to do first so I'll need to be on this part of town." He gave the address, watching as she scribbled it down.

"Oh, yeah I can do that, great." Holly smiled, "That would be a big help, really. I have a job interview for the school district and I could really use the job right now."

"Oh? Doing what?" He had no idea what she did for a living as he hadn't progressed to stalking her beyond the house as of yet, unless you counted the memorial service.

"At the elementary school, there's a teaching position open in the 4th grade. I've been substituting off and on for the past couple of years while I worked at the diner, but it's not exactly enough to make ends meet, especially now."

_Thanks to him._ "Oh, well good luck then. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon."

"See you then." Holly smiled again, hanging up the phone.

Jeremy watched her smile to herself, enjoying a few more bites of ice cream before she got up to put it away and get ready for bed. What had he signed himself up for? Oh well, it was the least he could do to help the woman get her life together after what he'd done. He went home to get some rest, anticipating he'd need all of his energy the next afternoon when he normally did his sleeping.

*** back from commercial ***

Damon came downstairs mid afternoon, scratching the back of his head as he shook himself from the nap he'd been taking. Elena was still up there resting after he'd kept her up far too late the night before. They tended to catch sleep in odd bursts these days, but always in each other's arms. He didn't like to think of the hours he'd spend apart from her once school started up again, but short of taking a job at the school he saw no way around it.

He stopped short as he spotted Jeremy sitting on the floor by the coffee table, scribbling in a coloring book with a little girl. "What's this?" He asked, raising a single brow mildly."

"I'm babysitting." Jeremy replied as if that made perfect sense, not bothering to look up from his coloring. "This is Kara, Kara this is Damon."

The little girl looked up as Damon entered the room, staring openly. "Are you Jemmy's brother?" She asked boldly.

Jeremy snorted at that, "Not hardly…" He muttered. "No, he's my sister's… boyfriend."

The question intrigued Damon and he studied the little girl, ignoring Jeremy for the moment. "What makes you ask that?"

"Cause you look like Jemmy." She answered, turning back to her page.

Damon didn't see it personally, but he sat down on the couch with a shrug, watching the pair color. "So… is this your new day job, babysitting?" He asked with a smirk.

"I'm just doing a favor for her mother." Jeremy replied, looking up and Damon could see the strain he was under, strain that he interpreted as hunger.

"Okay, why doesn't uncle Jemmy go take a break in the kitchen and have a snack and I'll keep the rugrat company." He gave Jeremy a pointed look.

"Oh I like the rugrats! Can we watch them?" Kara chirped, looking up expectantly.

Damon gave Jeremy a suffering look. "Hurry." He deadpanned.

Jeremy rose, hesitating for a moment before leaving the pair together.

"Go on, I don't gobble up little girls." Damon flashed his eyes at Kara who giggled in response. He could do this, how hard could it be? Unfortunately he was soon tested as Kara climbed up on the couch next to him and insinuated herself into his lap, holding up a picture of a puppy with a big flower in its teeth.

"Do you like my picture?" She smiled up at him.

Bewildered at her boldness, Damon froze for a moment, as if she was made of spun sugar and the slightest move on his part might send her toppling to pieces.

"So do you?" Kara prompted him, her lower lip sticking out a trifle petulantly at being ignored and it reminded him of Elena for just a moment as he'd seen the same expression from her before.

"I do, it's very… colorful." He searched for the proper compliment for the crude drawing. It had been a long, long time since he had been this close to a child and his hand unconsciously reached out and touched the smooth silk of her bright hair.

"I wish we had a puppy but Momma says all they do is eat and poop." The little girl gave a heavy sigh.

Elena appeared at the top of the stairs, watching the two together silently.

"Your mom sounds like a smart woman." Damon muttered. "I had a dog when I was a boy, but he liked my brother better."

"He did? Why?" Kara asked with open curiosity.

"Well because my brother always saved part of his dinner to give him treats and I never did. I didn't want to get a whippin' for something like that."

"Your Papa used to whup you for feeding a dog?" Her eyes flew wide, completely shocked by the notion.

"Only once." Damon nodded, not realizing that the entire cadence of his speech had shifted as he addressed the little girl. "My Pa was a strict man, he had a lot of rules. I broke plenty of 'em, but mostly just the ones I thought I could get away with."

"My Papa never whupped me for nothin', he said I was his perfect angel." Kara leaned a little closer, lowering her voice confidentially. "I'm not though, sometimes I make Momma cry." She admitted solemnly.

Damon's face twisted with something close to recognition at her words. "It's okay, she still loves you. Mothers love you no matter what." He reassured her gently.

"I like you Uncle Damon." Kara's face broke into a sunny smile and she threw her arms around his neck in a spontaneous hug.

Unsure what to do for a moment, Damon wrapped his arms around the fragile little body, patting her back a little awkwardly. Looking up he was startled to see Elena standing there, how had she managed to show up without him noticing? He gave her a helpless smile, tugging gently at Kara's arms until she released him and scooted off his lap as if nothing had happened.

"Who's this?" Elena asked with a gentle smile.

"This is Kara, who Jeremy is babysitting."

"Jeremy is babysitting?" Elena's brows climbed in surprise at the news.

"Yep, I'm just pinch hitting while he gets a snack in the kitchen. But now you can visit with your Auntie Elena while I go and check on him."

"Auntie Elena?" Elena gave him a bewildered look as he rose and headed for the kitchen, leaving her there with the unfamiliar child.

"Hi." Kara looked up at her with a sunny smile. "Wanna color?"

"Sure." Elena sat down beside her, picking up a crayon.

Damon wasted no time finding Jeremy in the kitchen with a mug of warmed blood. "Ok so spill, does her mom have beer flavored nipples or something? Why are you watching this kid?" He demanded.

"She's Steve's daughter." Jeremy replied as if that explained everything.

Staring back, Damon scowled as he realized that was all he was going to get out of him. "Steve being…?"

Jeremy took a step closer, hushing his voice. "The guy, the pizza delivery guy that I…"

"Oh…" Understanding dawned on Damon then and he processed that little tidbit of information. "So… this is what, your form of penance?" He raised a single brow.

"I just… I feel like I owe them and this was the least I could do." Jeremy said miserably.

"How did you even meet them? Oh god, you didn't tell his widow what you did, or what you are did you?" Even Jeremy couldn't be _that_ stupid.

"No, of course not!" It was Jeremy's turn to scowl and he deliberately calmed himself down before he continued. "I went to the memorial service, said I knew him from work."

Damon nodded encouragingly, if he wanted to meet them that was as good a story as any, thought it still eluded him as to why he had bothered at all? Did he really think that a few favors would make up for the loss of a husband and father? "So what, you're friends with the family now?"

"I… guess, maybe, I don't know. I've only talked to Holly a few times…"

"So it's Holly now… do you have a thing for the widow?" Damon smirked.

Jeremy flushed with something that could be either anger or embarrassment and Damon could see him struggling to keep a hold of himself, knowing that he had to keep things down or Elena or Kara might come to investigate.

"I'm just trying to help them out however I can." Jeremy insisted.

"Okay, don't get your knickers in a knot, you want to help them, that's great. Just make sure you eat before you see them." Damon gestured to the mug in Jeremy's hands. "Of course if you're really bent on helping them out…"

"Yeah?" Jeremy asked with interest.

It was a good fifteen minutes later by the time the guys returned to the living room to find the girls sitting on the floor where Elena was putting the lightest dusting of sparkly eye shadow on Kara's eyelids.

Damon stopped to watch them interact, feeling a wrench of something where his heart used to be.

Elena blew a light puff of air as she was finished, eliciting a light and bubbly giggle from the little girl. "There you go pretty princess." She laughed with her.

"I wanna see!" Kara cried excitedly, reaching for the little mirror Elena had set on the ground between them along with half of the contents of her purse.

"Here you go, take a look."

"But I can't see the sparkles." Kara complained.

"That's because it's on your eyelids, you can only see them best when your eyes are closed." Elena replied with a straight face, trying not to laugh as the girl tried her hardest to blink fast enough to see what her makeup looked like with her eyes closed.

"Uncle Damon, look, Auntie Elena made me pretty!" Kara jumped up at noticing them return.

"Auntie Elena definitely knows her stuff about looking pretty, squirt." Damon tapped her gently on the nose before looking up to wink at Elena.

"Uncle Jemmy, do I look pretty?" Kara blinked rapidly at him to show off her sparkles.

"You look like an Angel." Jeremy smiled, crouching down beside her.

"That's what my Papa used to say!" Kara giggled in delight.

A pained look crossed Jeremy's features at that and Damon took pity on him. "Let's see what cartoons are on TV okay?"

"Okay." Kara agreed easily, plopping down in front of the TV. Thanks to the cartoon network, they soon had her completely engrossed.

"What was that about?" Elena asked Damon softly.

"I'll tell you later." Damon promised, though what exactly he would tell her… he had no idea.

*** back from commercial ***

Bonnie woke from the windowless chamber in the basement of the boarding house. Her sleep had been restless, half expecting one of the Salvatores to come home and disturb her at any moment, but she'd been left alone. There had been no sign of Stefan yet and she was starting to think he would never return. Had Damon or Elena decided to finish the job?

She had only ventured forth from her sanctuary once to go home and shower, change and get together some materials, and to stop and see Caroline once she'd heard the message that she'd woken from her coma. The rest of the time she'd spent hard at work, trying and failing at her goal several times before she was able to pull it off. Now as the last rays of the dying sun started to slip from the sky, Bonnie stepped out of the growing shadows into the golden light, her lips curving in satisfaction as she withstood the beams of sunlight. Her eyes went to the heavy ring on her finger with a sense of pride. Step one was complete.

**A/N: Okay I know it's a bit of a tangent here having the babysitting thing, but it does have an affect on future plot, I promise. And kinda interesting to see these people dealing with something we haven't seen before, no? We are getting close to the end, only four more chapters left! Good thing the show will be starting back up this week!**

**Feedback is love people **


	31. The Danger of Dreams

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**.

**Cheers to everyone who got the "10 Things I Hate About You" reference! I love that movie! **

**I have just watched the season premiere of Vampire Diaries and all I can say is Holy Crap they packed a powerful punch this episode! I know you're probably all reeling with me about the big wedge that's been driven between Damon and Elena now and it kills me that they took that direction, but I can understand it from the show's perspective. I guess we'll just have to continue to get our Delena fix from fanfics. *sigh* **

**That said I was still riveted to my seat the entire time and I can't wait to see where they go this season. Oh and how bitchy was Bonnie? Damn... I thought I made her bad...**

**I now return you to the Delena-ier version of Vampire Diaries...**

"_Uncle Jemmy, do I look pretty?" Kara blinked rapidly at him to show off her sparkles._

"_You look like an Angel." Jeremy smiled, crouching down beside her. _

"_That's what my Papa used to say!" Kara giggled in delight._

_A pained look crossed Jeremy's features at that and Damon took pity on him. "Let's see what cartoons are on TV okay?" _

"_Okay." Kara agreed easily, plopping down in front of the TV. Thanks to the cartoon network, they soon had her completely engrossed._

"_What was that about?" Elena asked Damon softly._

"_I'll tell you later." Damon promised, though what exactly he would tell her… he had no idea. _

_*** back from commercial ***_

_Bonnie woke from the windowless chamber in the basement of the boarding house. Her sleep had been restless, half expecting one of the Salvatores to come home and disturb her at any moment, but she'd been left alone. There had been no sign of Stefan yet and she was starting to think he would never return. Had Damon or Elena decided to finish the job? _

_She had only ventured forth from her sanctuary once to go home and shower, change and get together some materials, and to stop and see Caroline once she'd heard the message that she'd woken from her coma. The rest of the time she'd spent hard at work, trying and failing at her goal several times before she was able to pull it off. Now as the last rays of the dying sun started to slip from the sky, Bonnie stepped out of the growing shadows into the golden light, her lips curving in satisfaction as she withstood the beams of sunlight. Her eyes went to the heavy ring on her finger with a sense of pride. Step one was complete. _

* * *

***insert the soft filmy filter of a dream sequence here***

Elena stood in the modern kitchen, sunlight streaming in through the large windows overlooking the courtyard outside. Snick, snick, snick… the knife made neat little strips of vegetables to go into the pasta primavera, Damon's favorite. A little older, a little more sure of herself, Elena moved with fluid grace, completely at home in their house, her feet whispering over the warm cherry wood of the floor.

She smiled as she heard him enter, but didn't turn as Damon joined her, wrapping his arms around her from behind and resting his head on her shoulder.

"What is that fantastic smell?" Damon put his face to her neck and inhaled deeply.

Elena giggled as he tickled her neck, and just as quickly that girlish charm returned to her more mature face. "Chocolate cake?

"Mmm, no I was talking about you." Damon pressed a kiss to her delectable neck.

Laughing, Elena's head canted to one side, affording him better access. "I made the cake special for tonight for our anniversary."

"I'd rather have you." Damon purred, nibbling at her neck, teeth grazing over the pulse that beat faster just for him.

"That sounds good for later." Elena turned her head to kiss him passionately.

A little girl of perhaps three or four with Elena's own coloring & long dark hair and Damon's bright blue eyes ran into the kitchen, insinuating her little body between theirs.

"Up Papa, up!" She pleaded, arms outstretched to him, hands opening and closing reflexively in her impatience to be picked up.

"How's my little Angel? Were you good for your mother today?" Damon smiled, instantly scooping the little girl up into his arms so she could wrap her chubby arms around his neck.

"Yes Papa." She reported with a grin. "I helped her when she was yucky sick." Her little face scrunched up in disgust at the memory, tongue lolling out dramatically.

"Mama was sick today?" Damon frowned over her shoulder at Elena who gave a slight shake of the head.

"Sophia… don't go telling tales, I'm fine, better than fine actually." Elena gave him a mysterious smile.

"Are you now?" A single brow rose as he caught the look. Just what was she up to?

"Yeah she drank a magic potion and now she's rain as right." Sophia volunteered.

"Right as rain." Elena corrected her gently.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Their daughter nodded. "Can we have chocolate cake with supper?" The question was directed at her father.

"Of course we can." Damon grinned, tapping her lightly on the nose.

A roll of the eyes was given. Damon would let her eat cake _for_ dinner if she didn't keep some semblance of order around the house. "_After_ dinner we can." Elena insisted.

Damon set his daughter down on the ground with a kiss to the cheek. "Be a good girl and go wash your hands for dinner okay Soph? That means the backs of em too, you know your mother will check!" Damon called after her as her little legs pumped madly to propel her across the room.

"So." Damon straightened, turning to face his wife. "Mama was yucky sick today? You've been getting sick an awful lot lately." His jaw tightened with tension as he pulled her into his arms again.

"I'm not sick." Elena insisted, a faint smile creeping into her lips. "I wanted to tell you after dinner when it was just the two of us, but trust Sophia to let the cat out of the bag."

Damon stared down at her, the smile on her lips at odds with the severity of having to explain something to him alone.

Elena took pity on him then, wrapping her arms around his shoulders; she leaned up to whisper for his ears alone. Thrilling as she felt his arms hold her tighter over the announcement.

"You are?" Damon's face was transfixed with joy as he laid a gentle hand to the swell of her belly. "And here I thought you were just packin' on a few pounds lately." He teased.

"God only knows why I love you." Elena laughed, smacking him across the chest.

"I don't care why, I just care that you do." Damon kissed her tenderly.

"It's another girl, you aren't disappointed are you?" Elena watched his face anxiously

"Disappointed? Why?" His brows drew together in puzzlement.

"Because most men want a son, but I suppose we can try again next time."

"Most men are idiots, I like having girls to spoil rotten." Damon grinned. "You already know it's a girl though? How long have you known about this?"

"I wanted to be sure before I told you."

"You should have told me the moment you had a suspicion." He chided her mildly.

"I know, I just know how excited you get and I didn't want to disappoint you." She explained gently.

"You could never disappoint me." Damon smiled, holding her close; he nuzzled against the side of her face.

Elena sighed contentedly, holding him just as close. "Damon I'm so happy… I keep thinking one day I'll wake up and it will all have been a dream."

"A dream…" Damon frowned, feeling everything grow blurry around him and shift. In desperation he clung to Elena but she turned to mist within his fingers as the dream slipped away.

*** whoosh, whoosh, whoosh ***

Damon woke up with a start, his face instantly twisting with the pain of what he'd lost.

What he could never give her.

Elena lay next to him, her face relaxed and peaceful while she slept. Gently he reached out and stroked the contours of her beloved face. The same features their dream daughter had shared, the daughter that would never be born.

He'd never thought of children before, in fact he'd always found the concept vaguely distasteful. Children were loud and messy and never did what they were told. In general they were a huge pain in the ass. So why did he feel that pang of loss now as he looked down at his empty arms?

The sun was just rising as Damon crept from the bed, needing to get out and clear his head before Elena woke and asked him what was wrong. What was he going to say? _I dreamed we had a family and now I'm bummed that I can never give you children? _He might as well start listening to Barry Manilow and watching Dr. Phil. There was no sense in pining over what could never be… he just needed to get past that lump in his throat every time he thought about those little arms encircled around his neck.

Trusting Elena to be safe as long as the sun was up, Damon slipped out of her house, feet carrying him at super speed to the house he'd dreamed of that was still under construction.

Elena woke not long after Damon's departure, frowning sleepily as she reached across the bed to Damon's usual spot and found it empty. Of course with Damon, you never knew what his absence would mean. Maybe he was out hunting or wherever it was that he went to obtain his bagged blood, or maybe he was downstairs making her breakfast in bed.

She smiled against the pillow, catching his scent, Elena hugged it to her. School would be starting soon and their schedules would change. So much had happened that summer it felt surreal to even think about going back to high school, picking up where she had left off. Only this year would be different. No Bonnie or Stefan, and Jeremy wouldn't be returning since he'd been declared legally dead. Jer didn't seem to be too broken up about that though and not for the first time Elena wondered what her brother had planned for his future or if he'd even given it any thought.

Moving lazily, Elena got up and showered, getting ready for the day slowly, expecting Damon to show at any moment. She was halfway through picking up the phone to give him a call when it struck her how ludicrous it was; her pining over him like this because they'd been apart for a short time. When had she become so dependent on him?

Maybe it was time to start reasserting her own life; independent of Damon and all the vampire drama? The more she thought about it, the more the idea appealed to her and she headed downstairs with a new spring in her step, eager to do something normal with her day for a change.

"Jenna?" She called out softly, hearing someone in the kitchen and knowing that Damon would never make that much noise.

"In here honey." Jenna called out from the kitchen where she was unloading the dishwasher with a clang of plates.

"Hey, I was thinking…"

"Uh oh… I know that look." Jenna laughed.

"School is just around the corner and we haven't gone back to school shopping yet."

"I was just thinking about that!" Jenna exclaimed happily, forgetting about the dishes for the moment. "We should totally go do that today. Ric will understand if I want to spend the day with my favorite niece."

Pleased to see her enthusiasm and finding herself caught up in it as well, Elena laughed. "I'm your only niece."

"Yeah well… all the better to spoil you shamelessly." Jenna giggled. "Besides, it's good to keep a man wanting more, and any excuse for me to go shopping is definitely worth it in my books."

"Great! Oh, I was thinking we might invite Caroline to go with us, it's a cinch she hasn't had time to go shopping yet either." Elena hoped Jenna wouldn't mind, or think it was intruding on their girl bonding time or anything.

"Yeah of course we can, it'll be a real girls' day out; we could even go get dolled up. I can use some serious highlights." Jenna replied easily. "Hey would you mind getting the paper while I finish up in here? There should be some flyers in there on all the best sales going on right now.

"Sure, no problem." Elena smiled, dialing Caroline first to see if she was feeling up to an outing since she'd been released from the hospital. From the shrill cry of excitement that almost deafened her, she gathered that Caroline was definitely up for a shopping trip and promised to be there within the half hour. Elena was still smiling to herself as she stepped out onto the porch, eyes lighting on the paper halfway down the front walk. She was to the bottom of the steps on the way back with the paper when she looked up and saw Bonnie standing there.

"Hello Elena." Bonnie smiled in satisfaction.

*** back from commercial ***

"Elena?" Jenna called out as she entered the living room, surprised to find the front door standing open. "Elena?" She called again, spotting the paper lying on the front porch. That was strange… where had she gone? A quick search of the house turned up no sign of her and now Jenna was starting to have a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She was pacing nervously in the living room when Alaric came downstairs, nothing more than a cup of coffee on his mind until he caught sight of her. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Oh Ric, I can't find Elena anywhere, it's like she vanished into thin air." Jenna immediately went to his embrace.

Alaric looked towards the bright sunlight filtering in through the widow. "Ah… its broad daylight, maybe she went out with Damon or to run some errands or something?" He suggested gently.

Jenna scowled at the slightly condescending tone of his voice. "No… you're not getting it. We were talking about going shopping and she went to go get the paper and she just never came back." She shook the paper at him.

"Have you tried calling her cell?" He suggested.

"Yeah but she left it here." Jenna pointed to where it sat on the hall table.

Frowning, Alaric picked up Elena's phone, dialing Damon.

"Hey Baby." Damon sounded a little down.

"Hey, it's Alaric."

"Not now boyscout, I'm not in the mood." Damon scowled into the phone. "And what are you doing with Elena's phone?"

Alaric ignored the question and the attitude. "So she's not with you?"

"No, I thought she was at home."

"Well she was… but now…"

"I'll be right there." Damon rushed home, cursing himself for having left her side even for a short time. But what kind of trouble could she have gotten herself into in broad daylight? It was just a few minutes later that he burst in through the front door, his eyes a little wild as he looked to Alaric and Jenna to see if they'd heard anything.

A brief shake of the head from Alaric confirmed his worst fears. "What are you doing here so early?" Damon scowled at the teacher.

"I um…" Alaric gave an uncomfortable glance at Jenna who blushed prettily.

"Skip it." Damon didn't want to hear the details; he was too worried about Elena. "Where did you last see her?"

"In the kitchen." Jenna replied. "She left to go and get the paper, we were gonna go shopping… but she never came back in."

Damon strode out to the front porch without a further word, extending his senses to see if he could pick up something. Anything. But there was no clue as to what had happened to her.

Caroline came up the walk just then, hesitating as she spotted Damon on the porch looking so… intense. "Um… is something wrong?" Her eyes darted nervously from Damon to Jenna and Alaric. "Mr. Saltzman, what are you doing here?"

Alaric coughed uncomfortably, ignoring her question in favor of one of his own. "Caroline, have you seen or heard from Elena?"

"Yeah of course, that's why I came over, we were gonna go shopping. You know I lost an entire size while I was in the hospital? I can't wait to get a new pair of jeans." She grinned before it faltered at seeing their expressions. "But… isn't Elena here?"

"She's missing." Jenna replied, looking very near tears.

"I have to go find her." Damon pulled himself out of his stupor, his mind already imagining the worst.

"Wait…" Caroline laid her hand on his arm, hoping her new gift would give her what she wanted just this once. Her eyes took on a faraway case as she got a vision of Elena tied up on the ground, Damon crouched at her side trying to free her. Bonnie stood a short distance away, lips moving soundlessly.

"Oh… Bonnie has her." She whispered as the vision started to fade.

"You saw her? Where was she?" Damon grabbed her arms and gave her a shake, eliciting little more than a squeal of fright out of Caroline.

Alaric stepped up to their side. "Damon… calm down, no sense in trying to scare it out of her." He said gently

Damon eased his hold on Caroline, his jaw clenching tight before he gave her a forced smile. "What did you see? Where was this?"

"I… I don't know exactly. It was dark and crappy there." Caroline stammered.

"Oh well that solves everything, thanks." Damon let go of her disgustedly, stepping away as the urge to hit something nearly overwhelmed him.

Alaric stepped up to talk to Caroline, his tone coaxing. "Was it inside or out?"

"Inside I think. There was a dirt floor and a lot of stones but I think it was inside like a cave maybe?"

"Stones? Like natural rock formations or a manmade wall?" Damon asked.

"Um… I don't know I wasn't staring at the walls, I was looking at you and Elena and stuff." Caroline cringed back from the look Damon shot at her just then.

"Okay everyone calm down for a minute." Alaric interjected. "Caroline just take a deep breath, and we'll walk through it together okay?" He tried again.

"Okay." Caroline nodded, trying to look at just him. "It's a big circular space, I think it's built, the stones are uneven but definitely stacked on purpose. There's a doorway and… an opening into like a tunnel or something. Elena was in the opening tied up on the ground, but you can still see her from the circle."

"The tomb." Damon's head came up sharply and he took off in the blink of an eye.

"Whoa…" Caroline blinked at her first experience with vampire speed.

Alaric swore under his breath, pacing back and forth on the front porch. "We've gotta go help him, there's no way he'll be able to stand up to her on his own."

"But isn't Bonnie a new vampire? Won't Damon be able to kick her ass?" Caroline asked, furrows appearing on her forehead as she puzzled her way through it.

"Bonnie's something new, we don't know what it did to her witchy abilities to become a vampire. Maybe she doesn't have them anymore, but maybe… it amplified them the way it amplifies all human abilities." Alaric replied grimly.

"We have to go and help him." Jenna repeated.

"Well yeah, you and Mr. Saltzman were there in my… vision or whatever you want to call it." Caroline nodded.

"No way, no chance in hell are you going anywhere near the old church crypt." Alaric shook his head adamantly. "I've gotta go." Without waiting for another word of argument, Alaric was already headed for his car, digging the keys out of his pocket.

"Ugh, men." Jenna scowled as he sped away.

"I know, right? Who died and made him the boss of you? He's not _your_ teacher." Caroline sympathized.

"Yeah, you're right." Jenna's chin came up a fraction. "So tell me more about this tomb…"

**A/N: Yay Caroline pulls through in a helpful way for once! Thanks for all the nice reviews guys. I really do wish I could keep this one going forever, it holds a very special place in my heart as my first attempt at fanfic, but all good things must eventually come to an end. Just a couple more chapters I'm afraid. But on the bright side, that frees me up for new fics, right? I do still want to get back to my Roadtrip story with a sequel and I'm continuing with Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down. I would love to try my hand at some True Blood fics too now that the season is coming to an end. So many ideas, so little time!**

**Feedback is love people **


	32. Showdown

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**.

**I hope you like this grand finale sort of episode (though there will likely be 2 more chapters to wrap stuff up afterwards) . **

"_Bonnie's something new, we don't know what it did to her witchy abilities to become a vampire. Maybe she doesn't have them anymore, but maybe… it amplified them the way it amplifies all human abilities." Alaric replied grimly._

"_We have to go and help him." Jenna repeated._

"_Well yeah, you and Mr. Saltzman were there in my… vision or whatever you want to call it." Caroline nodded._

"_No way, no chance in hell are you going anywhere near the old church crypt." Alaric shook his head adamantly. "I've gotta go." Without waiting for another word of argument, Alaric was already headed for his car, digging the keys out of his pocket._

"_Ugh, men." Jenna scowled as he sped away. _

"_I know, right? Who died and made him the boss of you? He's not your teacher." Caroline sympathized. _

"_Yeah, you're right." Jenna's chin came up a fraction. "So tell me more about this tomb…"_

* * *

"Bonnie… why are you doing this?" Elena winced as the ropes tightened painfully around her ankles.

Bonnie gave a snort of derision. "Seriously? Because no one could ever hate the sweet and pure Elena Gilbert, right?" She replied in a saccharine voice. "Get over yourself. Not everything is about you."

Taken aback by the response, it took Elena a moment to find her voice again. "Um okay… Crazy me to think this might be about me just a little bit as you tie me up." She muttered dryly.

"Okay fair enough, it's partly about you." Bonnie allowed, tugging at the ropes to test them. "You took everything away from me and now I'm going to do the same to you and more importantly, to those that love you."

"What? What did I take from you?" Elena demanded. "You're the one who started things up with Stefan behind my back." She reminded her.

"Don't you dare pull that holier than thou card when you were stepping around with Damon at the same time." Bonnie smirked.

Elena blinked at that. "That was different." But her voice sounded hollow to her own ears. She might not have set out to fall in love with Damon, but she had to admit, it had started while she was still with Stefan.

"Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night." A roll of the eyes was given as Bonnie tugged off the slim gloves she was wearing, revealing the heavy ring on her finger.

"Where did you get the ring?" Elena's eyes were immediately drawn to it.

"I made it, do you like it?" Bonnie preened.

"So that's how you came out in the sunlight." It dawned on her.

"Yep, I'm betting your boyfriend didn't think of that when he took off this morning. In fact, I'm betting your boyfriend didn't think of a lot of things." Bonnie rose to her feet, shoving the thin gloves into her back pocket.

"He's gonna rip you apart when he finds me. And he will find me." Elena boasted, meeting Bonnie's gaze squarely.

"I'm counting on it." Bonnie grinned.

*** back from commercial ***

Damon arrived at the tomb and forced himself to stop and take stock of the situation. Extending his senses, he caught the sweet scent that was Elena's alone, and it overrode any self-protective instincts he might have had. Rushing inside the crypt, he saw Bonnie standing in the antechamber, within the protective walls of a pentagram drawn in black earth at her feet.

"Where's Elena?" He growled.

"Damon!" Elena called out from just inside the passageway leading to the catacomb of tombs under the old church.

"Elena!" Without sparing a backwards glance for Bonnie, Damon rushed to her side. His hands went immediately to the ropes that bound her, pulling back with a hiss as they burned his skin.

"I soaked them in vervain; I thought it might make things more interesting." Bonnie called after them.

"They'll slow me down, but they won't stop me." Damon promised, attempting to force the knots now since he lacked the strength to tear the reinforced ropes. It stung but wasn't unbearable.

"How sweet. You know I do think you two belong together after all." Bonnie watched them with a smile.

"Just wait, you'll get yours in a minute." Damon muttered; intent on his task.

"Will I? I don't think so." Bonnie recited an incantation then, short and sweet, but everyone in the room felt the rush of power as the spell was released. She was much, much more powerful than she'd been in life.

Damon looked up, a sneaking suspicion hitting him over what she'd done. He moved to the mouth of the crypt and stopped stock still as an invisible barrier kept him trapped within the tomb.

"Sorta fitting, don't you think? This is where it all began, and this is where it will end for you. I'll seal you in and then eventually, you'll be forced to make a choice. Cave in and eat Elena as the hunger grows or she'll die of starvation anyway. Either way Elena will die and you'll have to live with it for all eternity." Her eyes glittered dangerously, the taint of madness in them plain to see.

Damon refused to give her the satisfaction of an answer and bent to work at Elena's bonds again. There had to be a secret option number three that would allow them to defeat her.

"Bonnie what happened to us? We used to be best friends!" Elena pleaded with her.

"The Salvatore brothers happened to us! You're right, we used to be the best of friends, but all it took was for Stefan to crook his finger at you and you left me behind in the dust except for when you needed something from me. And then it wasn't enough for you to have just one brother, you had to have both."

"But I didn't have both, you had Stefan…" Elena protested.

Bonnie gave a bitter laugh. "I _never _had Stefan. I had his hunger and his blood, but I never had his heart; he'd already given it to you. You were the one he called out for in his sleep, and it was your name on his lips in the heat of passion, not mine. And it's your death he's going to regret the most when you're gone. He didn't give a damn about mine." Her voice wavered with emotion, "Stefan dumped me in a hole in the ground like I was garbage and left me there all alone."

"Bonnie…" Elena gasped in horror as she started to grasp the depth of Bonnie's pain.

"Stefan's gonna suffer for what he did to me, and if you two suffer along the way…. All the better." With that she opened her grimoire and started to chant in a language as ancient as the stones that surrounded them.

Damon had her wrists freed by now and Elena rubbed them absently as he went to work on her ankles, feeling their time was running out. "I'm gonna get you out of this." He promised.

"I know." Elena nodded. The ground started to rumble then and the two stones on either side of the passage way started to slide closer together.

Damon released her bonds and raced to the opening, but couldn't reach through the barrier Bonnie had erected to try and pry them apart. "Shit… Elena see if you can get through the barrier." If she could get through he was prepared to shove her through the opening, no sense in them both being trapped.

Unaware of his endgame, Elena rushed at the opening, but she was stopped by the same unseen force that bound him as well. "No good, we're trapped in here."

Alaric raced into the tomb just then, taking quick stock of what was going on, he charged at Bonnie, stake in hand but came up against the invisible protection afforded her by the pentagram at her feet.

Bonnie barely spared him a glance, but when she saw him raise a dartgun loaded with vervain, she broke from her chanting to send a pulse of power at him from her outstretched hand.

Sent flying against the stone wall, the dart gun fell from Alaric's hand and skittered uselessly away as his body crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

The progression of the stone doors sliding shut had slowed as Bonnie's attention had been diverted by Alaric's attack, but with him easily defeated, she turned her full focus back to the spell and they resumed their inexorable closure.

Damon drew Elena into the shelter of his arms as they watched helplessly. All he could think was that maybe there would be another way out, some other avenue that Bonnie hadn't thought of.

Just when all hope seemed lost, Bonnie slumped forward, a vervain dart sticking out of her back. Jenna stood behind her, holding the dart gun with shaking hands. "Elena?" She called out worriedly as the ground started to quake in earnest from the strain of having the spell wrenched apart so suddenly.

Rocks began to rain down around them, a large boulder blocking the exit for Damon and Elena. Jenna screamed as she was battered by falling rocks and Alaric roused himself enough to tug her towards the tomb entrance.

Damon struggled with the fallen boulder, but before he could get a proper hold on it, the cave in begins in earnest and he chose instead to shelter Elena protectively with his body to shield her from the worst of the damage. For long terrifying minutes, the air was filled with falling dirt and rocks, until the pair was completely buried under the rubble.

*** back from commercial ***

There were sharp stones pressing uncomfortably into Elena's back, but all in all she'd been shielded fairly well from the worst of it. Damon's arm lay behind her head cushioning her, and he'd formed a pocket around them with his body. "Damon?" She coughed, as the air, still thick with dust reached her lungs.

Damon groaned, teetering on the edge of consciousness after being battered severely by the falling debris. Rocks had struck his spine with enough force to cripple a regular man and he was in intense pain as it was. "Still here." He reported, forcing his eyes open to reassure himself that she was alright. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." She shifted a little beneath him and it was a little easier to breathe. "So… how are we gonna dig ourselves out of this one?" Elena sighed.

"We do end up in the damnedest situations don't we?" Damon grunted against the pain. "At least this feels like a regular cave in, something that can be dug up, no magical barrier sealing us in for all eternity, gotta be happy about that." Though there was little to be glad of in that moment other than the fact that Elena sounded alright. But for how long?

"That's true. If Alaric and Jenna got out, they'll call for help and they'll dig us out, right?" She asked hopefully.

"Uh huh." Damon replied in slightly less enthusiastic tones. He was more concerned with her running out of air by the time that happened. Usually that kind of excavation took a lot of time to organize.

"Do you think that…" Elena began to ask, but Damon laid a kiss to her lips, silencing her.

"Shhh, try not to talk, conserve the oxygen." He said gently. Of course he could talk all he wanted to, his body didn't consume oxygen from the air when he breathed it in and out of his lungs, but he remained quiet with her until he could feel her trembling beneath him.

"I think maybe we should talk about you taking some of my blood." Damon said finally.

Elena gasped in the darkness. "You really think it's that bad?" She asked softly.

"I think… it might be better to be safe than sorry." He said carefully, "And I'm not ready to let you go yet. But… ultimately it's your decision." Diplomatic words, but he wondered if he could really let her go if she chose otherwise, or would he force the blood and take the chance that she'd eventually forgive him?

"I can't say I've never thought about it before." She admitted.

"You have?" That surprised him.

"Kind of hard not to when you're dating a vampire." Elena pointed out wryly. "It sort of brings a whole new dimension into a forever kind of love."

"So what did you think? When you thought of it before?"

"I sort of thought it might be something I would consider some day, just not yet. But if my choice is between dying now and a chance at immortality with you, the choice seems pretty clear to me." Elena replied.

"So you're saying…"

Elena took a shaky breath. "I'll do it. Give me some of your blood."

A rush went through him at hearing those words and it cut through the haze of pain he was in with the weight of the rocks pressing into his back. There was more to say on the subject, ramifications of her choice that she might not have considered, but there wasn't time to delve further into it at the moment.

"I don't think I can get my wrist up to where your mouth is, so that leaves my neck. You'll have to bite me. Don't worry about hurting me, I can take it. Just think of it as a really big hickey." Damon tried to keep things light.

"Okay. She nodded nervously, reaching up to bring her lips up to his neck. But instead of biting him straight off the bat, she kissed his neck lightly, tasting his skin. "I'm sorry." She breathed.

"Just do it Elena." His body was tensed in anticipation and from the pain of the rocks pressing into his spine.

Elena bit down against his neck, a little horrified by how much easier and harder it was to break through his skin than she'd thought it would be. There was just a little trickle of blood from the small wound, so her mouth pulled at his flesh, creating suction that increased the blood flow.

A low sound tore from his throat and Elena started to pull away. "Don't stop…" Damon entreated her in a ragged moan, reveling in the sensation as her mouth returned to his flesh. It was so much more intense than the one time she'd drunk the tiniest bit of his blood to break Stefan's compulsion, and his body reacted instantly.

The lack of air in the confined space lent a dreamlike quality to everything and Elena felt none of the disgust she would have anticipated at drinking his blood. Feeling his excitement, Elena sucked harder, feeling her own thrill at giving him that pleasure. Finally she pulled her mouth away, knowing what he wanted in that moment. "Do you want to drink from me too?" She whispered.

Damon was sorely tempted, and he could feel his fangs start to descend, but he tamped down the desire to drink from her, knowing it might hasten her death. "No, you keep your strength up." He replied.

"Do you think that was enough? Elena licked her lips.

He was tempted to tell her no, that she needed more just to keep that sweet mouth on him, but instead he shook his head. "No that should be enough." He said, gritting his teeth against the pain of a shift in the rock above him.

Elena nodded slowly, her eyes drifting shut. "What'll happen to me… if I die?" She asked, and Damon could tell her voice was growing weaker. The pressure at his back shifted again and he could sense that there was some activity above them, but there was no telling how close they were through all the rocks.

"You'll just drift off to sleep peacefully." He said soothingly, tears forming at the corner of his eyes. "And when you wake up, I'll be there and we'll be together forever. And you won't feel any pain, just love." It wrenched at his heart, the thought of her dying in his arms, even though he knew she would return to him. Who would have thought that would happen?

"Together forever…" Elena murmured, barely clinging to consciousness.

"Stay with me Elena, don't give up just yet." Damon begged, feeling her life start to ebb away. The pain grew unbearable then, and he had to withdraw into himself to withstand it without screaming. And then there was screaming and Damon was only vaguely aware that it was coming from him.

*** back from commercial ***

It was the screaming that helped them know where to dig.

Alaric, Jenna, Caroline and Jeremy all dug, Jeremy's efforts far outstripping their own, but every pair of hands was needed to reach them in time.

Elena was unconscious but still alive once pulled from the crypt that had almost become their tomb and she was hurriedly brought up into the fresh air by Alaric and Jenna as Jeremy pulled Damon's broken body from the rubble.

"He needs blood." Jeremy said, once the extent of damage became clear.

"Don't look at me." Caroline frowned, backing away.

"In the trunk of the car, I packed some just in case." Jeremy gave her a withering look. "I just can't go out there myself." He explained patiently. It had been painful enough on the trip over for him to ride in the trunk, wrapped in a blanket, more painful still when he'd emerged from the trunk to run for the tomb, but it had been worth it when they'd pulled Elena out alive.

"Oh, yeah I can do that." Caroline nodded, picking her way through the destruction to get to the passageway to the outside, eager to be out in the fresh air anyway.

"Elena…" Damon murmured, barely clinging to consciousness, his thoughts addled by pain.

"She's gonna be just fine, and I'm getting you some blood, just chill." Jeremy replied.

"Bonnie…"

"We took care of her." Jeremy's eyes strayed to the corner of the room where the witch lay unconscious, bound and gagged with vervain soaked bonds just to be on the safe side. Of course there was still the matter of what to do with her but for now she was safely out of the way.

"Good." Damon allowed himself to slip into oblivion, secure in the knowledge that Elena was safe and the others had things well in hand.

*** back from commercial ***

"I don't know… I mean it's Bonnie we're talking about. Yeah I know she went a little crazy, but Stefan put her through a lot. Maybe with some time she might… get better?"

Damon could hear Elena speaking, and struggled to open his eyes. They were all in Elena's living room. Elena, Jenna and Alaric on the sofa and Caroline on the chair watching the proceedings with wide eyes. Jeremy was leaning against the wall in the corner of the room next to Bonnie, who lay on the ground, still unconscious and tied up. From his own vantage point, Damon gathered that he was lying on the floor as well, and no one was looking in his direction.

"I know what you mean, it's a difficult decision." Alaric agreed. "It's not every day I sit and try to decide whether or not to kill one of my students."

"Um okay I know this might be like splitting hairs or whatever, but technically isn't she already dead?" Caroline volunteered.

"I don't know why we're still debating this?" Jeremy interjected hotly. "She just tried to murder both Elena and Damon, whatever she was before; she's an evil bitch now. I vote we stake her."

"So do I." Jenna agreed vehemently.

"Jenna…" Alaric sighed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "It's not that simple."

"Oh for crying out loud…" Damon muttered, snapping the leg from the coffee table, he crawled over to Bonnie's side and plunged it into her chest. Her body immediately started decaying and he wrenched the ring from her hand despite the muck, holding it up to Jeremy. "Jer, I think you should have this." He sat back, noting that everyone's faces were riveted to him in varying degrees of shock, no one able to say anything.

Jenna was the first to break the silence. "You owe me a new coffee table."

**A/N: Almost to the end now guys! I had so much fun with that last line I almost wanted to end things here, but there are too many loose ends that need tying up. **

**If anyone is interested, I've decided to start writing a Vampire Diaries episode recap for this season. (I know, like I need another writing project *facepalms*) It's posted on my webpage (a link can be found under "homepage" on my profile page, it won't let me list the URL here. I've never done one before, but I thought it might be fun, and people can leave comments and discuss what they thought of the episode as well. Mostly I am just reeling over the season premiere episode and need to discuss!**

**Feedback is love people **


	33. Epilogue

**A/N: As usual I don't own Vampire Diaries or any canon characters**.

**I'm glad you guys liked the showdown with Bonnie! Thanks for all the wonderful feedback. This chapter is set up like a series of vignettes, tying up some loose ends I had floating around in the back of my mind. I had originally intended it to be two chapters, but decided not to stretch it out. So I give you the final chapter!**

"_I don't know… I mean it's Bonnie we're talking about. Yeah I know she went a little crazy, but Stefan put her through a lot. Maybe with some time she might… get better?" Damon could hear Elena speaking, and struggled to open his eyes. They were all in Elena's living room. Elena, Jenna and Alaric on the sofa and Caroline on the chair watching the proceedings with wide eyes. Jeremy was leaning against the wall in the corner of the room next to Bonnie, who lay on the ground, still unconscious and tied up. From his own vantage point, Damon gathered that he was lying on the floor as well, and no one was looking in his direction._

"_I know what you mean, it's a difficult decision." Alaric agreed. "It's not every day I sit and try to decide whether or not to kill one of my students."_

"_Um okay I know this might be like splitting hairs or whatever, but technically isn't she already dead?" Caroline volunteered._

"_I don't know why we're still debating this?" Jeremy interjected hotly. "She just tried to murder both Elena and Damon, whatever she was before, she's an evil bitch now. I vote we stake her."_

"_So do I." Jenna agreed vehemently._

"_Jenna…" Alaric sighed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "It's not that simple." _

"_Oh for crying out loud…" Damon muttered, snapping the leg from the coffee table, he crawled over to Bonnie's side and plunged it into her chest. Her body immediately started decaying and he wrenched the ring from her hand despite the muck, holding it up to Jeremy. "Jer, I think you should have this." He sat back, noting that everyone's faces were riveted to him in varying degrees of shock, no one able to say anything._

_Jenna was the first to break the silence. "You owe me a new coffee table."_

* * *

"I feel fine, I promise." Elena insisted as Damon steered her towards the bedroom. After everyone had gotten over the shock of Bonnie's death and Jeremy had left to take care of the body, the room had started to clear out pretty quick with Caroline going home and Jenna heading to Alaric's place for a well needed break.

"Doesn't matter, if you're not gonna go get checked out by a doctor it's straight to bed with you." Damon maintained stubbornly.

"I'm not tired though." The thought occurred to her that maybe he was the one who was tired, but didn't want to admit it. He seemed fine now, but then again he had been unconscious for over an hour while his body had worked to repair itself – not a small feat for a vampire.

"Even better." Damon grinned, tugging her down to the bed with him into the protective shelter of his arms.

Elena went willingly, snuggling into his embrace. "God what a crazy day." She breathed into the crook of his neck. It was hard to believe that it was well and truly over after such a crazy summer of ups and downs. While it was hard to tell what the future might hold for them, she took this moment to just enjoy being with him.

"You can say that again. I'd say it ranks right up there in the top ten craptastic days of all time." Damon sighed into her hair.

"How can you say that? We're here together and none of us died or was horribly maimed." None of us. Except for Bonnie, which Elena still wasn't sure how she felt about that. On one level, it was Bonnie's own fault that she'd been staked. Elena had tried to warn her that Damon would be out for her blood once she'd kidnapped her. But on the other… it was Bonnie… her best friend for so long. How had they come to this?

"I almost lost you today." Damon's voice was sober with none of the usual sarcasm that tainted his tone.

"But you didn't."

"But I almost lost you today." He held her tight, forehead pressed to hers.

"_But you didn't."_ She repeated, pulling back to look into his eyes. There were no more words then as she proceeded to remind him just how very much alive she was. Damon was at first gentle with her, as though Elena was made of spun glass, but soon she urged him with talented hands and mouth to remember that she wasn't as fragile as all that. In fact, she demanded it; taking control of the shared intimacy. Once he'd caught onto her mood, Damon seemed all too glad to let her take over and do with him what she would; and they celebrated their love until each fell back, hoarse and panting and utterly satisfied.

As they drifted off to sleep, Damon pulled her into his embrace, his eyes falling shut. "Maybe I should let you almost die more often." He quipped with a very satisfied smile on his lips.

*** back from commercial ***

It was late afternoon when the doorbell rang and with a glance up at the bedroom where Damon and Elena had finally fallen quiet a couple of hours ago, Jeremy went to answer it himself. To his surprise, Holly stood on the doorstep, a paper shopping bag at her feet.

"Hi, I know I should have called first but…"

"No, it's fine." Jeremy waved away her concern, still trying to get over his surprise at seeing her. As usual his emotions were conflicted whenever he saw the pretty blonde; knowing what he'd taken from her. "How have you been?"

"Fantastic actually, and I just had to come and tell you as soon as I knew. I got the job!" She all but gave a little hop of excitement.

Jeremy's smile widened, he'd already known that she had the job in the bag. At Damon's suggestion, he'd paid the principal and the superintendent a little visit after her interview. He'd been right, Jeremy owed them more than free babysitting, getting her the job was the least he could do for now. "That's great, I'm glad to hear it." He grinned, doing his best to match her excitement, but she looked like she was about to float away on cloud nine.

"Yeah I start next Monday, I can't tell you how excited I am."

"I can tell."

"You know Kara had a really great time over here the other day, she hasn't been able to stop talking about it."

"She's a great kid; she's got quite an imagination on her." He felt the need to throw that in, just in case the little girl had said anything unusual at all about her visit with two vampires.

"Yeah well, I really appreciate it. I know it can't be a guy's favorite thing to do to play with a little girl so I just wanted to say thanks." Holly smiled, producing a Tupperware container of chocolate chip cookies from the bag and handing it over. "I know it's not much…"

"No, these are great." Jeremy accepted them, a lump of emotion appearing in his throat. "No one's ever made me cookies before." He admitted after a moment.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "No? Not even your mom?"

"Well ok yeah, she did years ago, but she's gone now." He replied, his gaze dropping.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up painful memories." She gave him a sympathetic smile, teeth worrying at her bottom lip.

"It's okay. Painful things happen; not talking about them doesn't make them go away." Jeremy gave a half shrug.

"Yeah, that's true." Holly sobered and Jeremy wondered if she was thinking about Steve.

"But I'm sorry if that causes you any pain." He said quickly.

Holly shook her head, giving Jeremy a faint smile. "Steve and I… I'll miss him, he was Kara's father and part of me will always love him; but we weren't… it wasn't exactly like he was my true love." She said in a very quiet voice, as if she was afraid someone might hear her say something so terrible about the dead.

That eased his guilt a little in hearing that, but he was almost immediately struck by another pang of guilt for thinking of himself even for a moment after what he'd done to the little family. "Do you believe in true love?" Jeremy wasn't able to keep the skepticism completely out of his voice.

"I don't know… maybe... Yeah, I think I do. At least I hope so." Holly gave him a smile that was tinged with hope for the future.

"I used to think so too, but now…" With both Vicki and Anna dead, him too technically; what were the odds he'd find someone now? Who could love a cold dead thing?

"Hey, you're young yet, you'll meet your dream girl." She reached out to give his arm a sympathetic squeeze.

Jeremy looked up at the touch, something stirring inside of him that he didn't recognize; maybe it was hope?

Holly was the first to break eye contact, dashing a look to the car where Kara bounced in her booster seat. "Okay well I should get going, Kara's waiting for me to take her to the park, I just wanted to say thank you."

"Do you want some company?" He found himself asking.

"Ah, sure. Yeah if you want to, I know Kara would be glad to see you." Holly gave him a sunny smile.

Jeremy glanced down at the ring on his finger and stepped into the sunlight.

*** back from commercial ***

Elena waved to Matt and Caroline who already had a table at the Grill, smiling when she saw Caroline waving to her excitedly once she'd been spotted. It was good to see the couple together and happy, and Elena pushed away the pang at thinking that Bonnie should have been sitting with them.

"Finally! I'm starving, but Matt said we had to wait for you to get here. I said we were all good enough friends that you wouldn't care if we started without you but manners… whatever." Caroline grinned.

"You could have gotten something to eat without me. I wouldn't have cared." Elena replied, sliding into the seat on the opposite side of the booth.

"See, told you." Caroline gave Matt a smug smile.

Matt gave Elena a wink, picking up the menu. "Is Damon coming? We could wait for him?" He couldn't help but tease Caroline a little.

Elena suppressed a smile at the outraged look on Caroline's face. "No, he had some business to tie up tonight." He'd been pretty secretive about it actually, and she had more than a few questions as to what had kept him busy of late. But at least things were settling down and Damon hadn't felt the need to attach himself to her hip all the time. She loved him but he sure took her protection a little too far in her opinion.

"Oh good." Caroline breathed a sigh of relief, but then instantly looked contrite. "I mean… I'm sorry Elena, I mean I know he's your man and all he just…" She shivered and Elena guessed she couldn't blame Caroline for having reservations about Damon after all she'd been through because of him.

"It's okay. I'm aware that he makes himself… a little less than lovable sometimes." She said tactfully.

"He seems like a good guy. Like he makes you happy." Matt volunteered and Elena traded a look with him over the table, glad that they'd been able to remain friends and be happy for each other for moving on.

"Thanks Matt, he does. He makes me very happy." Elena still on occasion wanted to take off her own shoe and beat him with it for some of the stuff that came out of his mouth, but overall, Damon made her very, very happy indeed.

"So Elena, I've been meaning to ask you about your 18th birthday. Are you gonna have a big party with tons of people?" Caroline's eyes sparkled with the thought of a big birthday blowout.

"No, I don't think so. Maybe just a small gathering of people, or maybe just a family dinner, I don't know." She shrugged. The party scene wasn't really her deal anymore, in fact, she found it hard to connect with most of the people she went to high school with now.

"Oh come on Elena, you can't not have a party for your 18th birthday, it's like a law or something." Caroline pouted.

"Oh yeah? Did you pick that up from your mom?" Matt smirked.

Caroline poked him in the ribs. "Yeah, and you don't want to find yourself tossed in jail for not having a party so you'd better cooperate. In fact, if you want I can handle all of the details, I'll take care of everything. She offered cheerily.

"I'm not sure Jenna would be up for that." Elena hedged. Caroline in charge of anything was always an ordeal, she was known for being a perfectionist and expecting everyone to jump the moment she gave an order.

"Don't be silly, she wouldn't begrudge you a celebration and I tell ya this town could really use it after everything it's been through."

"What do you mean?" Matt asked.

The girls traded a look. "Oh um, nothing." Caroline smiled weakly. "All the rain… it's been eroding the riverbanks."

Wow, that was a weak recovery, but Elena had to give her props for trying. "Yeah, it's an epidemic." Elena nodded sagely, even as Matt gave them an odd look.

Caroline reached out and touched Elena's hand, her eyes going blank for a moment and Elena recognized that look; she was having a vision.

"Everything okay Caroline?" She asked nervously, wondering if she should pull her aside.

"No, it's fine, really." Caroline smiled after a moment. "Actually, better than fine."

Elena peered at Caroline carefully, unsure why she was smiling like that. "Matt, how about you go see what's keeping the waitress?"

Matt looked between the two girls, a confused look on his face, not quite sure what was going on. Sure, I guess I can do that." He smiled easily though, scooting out of the booth.

As soon as Matt had moved away, Elena leaned forward, her voice dropping conspiratorially. "What's going on, what did you see?"

"You'll see." Carolyn just smiled that infuriatingly smug smile of hers, and refused to say anything else.

*** back from commercial ***

The morning dawned bright and clear on Elena's 18th birthday. Waking to find Damon gone, she frowned to herself at the indentation he'd left on the bed beside her. Of all the days for him to disappear… "Damon?" She called out softly. A brief tap the door answered her call and Damon appeared a moment later, his arms laden with goodies on a wooden tray.

"Oh so you're up?" He grinned, setting the tray down at the end of the bed to come and give her a proper greeting.

Elena sat up, tucking the hair back behind her ears as she surveyed what he'd brought her. "How long have you been up?" She asked, turning her face up to accept the kiss offered.

"Long enough to miss being back in bed with you." He gave her a wolfish grin.

"Well you're the one who left in the first place." Elena grinned back, reaching up to wrap a hand around his neck and tug him close.

Damon willingly went into her embrace, pushing her back against the pillows. For long minutes neither one of them thought about breakfast or anything beyond being in each other's arms.

"So, what's my birthday surprise?" Elena asked at length, reaching for a croissant and smearing it liberally with strawberry jam.

"What makes you think you're getting a surprise?" Damon's brows rose innocently.

"Mmmm, maybe because I know you, and I know that you're incapable of letting the day pass without planning something." She grinned.

"Well maybe I might have something up my sleeve." He allowed, a mischievous grin on his face.

"I can't wait." Elena smiled, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Breakfast soon finished, they found themselves on the road in Damon's car. Elena had balked at the idea of wearing a blindfold and they had compromised on the agreement that Elena would close her eyes until Damon said she could open them.

Elena soon found that she was having a hard time keeping herself awake on the road trip, and drifted off to sleep. Her sleeping habits had changed drastically since Damon had started sharing her bed and she had to admit the loss of sleep was definitely worth it. The next thing she knew, Damon was gently shaking her awake. "We're here, Angel."

Opening her eyes, Elena wasn't too surprised to find herself parked in front of Damon's homestead. She was surprised however to find the construction completely finished on the place. Sure the landscaping still needed work, but the house itself had been completed in a remarkably short amount of time. The plantation style mansion sat majestically on the property, reminding her of his roots in that distant century.

"Oh my God, Damon when did you finish this?" She whispered in awe.

"Just a couple of days ago, we got it right down to the wire." He beamed proudly, taking her through the ornate double doors, and into the foyer. "Come on, I'll give you the grand tour."

Damon led her through the house, talking animatedly about the features and design aspects of each room. Elena recognized a lot of the color choices she had suggested, particularly in the master bedroom. Finally he returned to the ground floor, leading her into the kitchen.

"Do you like it?" He asked, bringing her knuckles up to his lips in a light kiss.

"Are you kidding? What's not to like? I love it!" Elena smiled enthusiastically, her fingers running across the smooth granite counter top. The house was beautiful, a perfect blend of old world charm and modern design, just like Damon himself.

"Good, because..." Damon smiled, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a slim envelope. "I'm giving it to you."

"What?" Elena's mouth fell open in surprise, her heart beating a little faster. "I thought you were building this as your new homestead? Melding together your past and your future, all of that stuff."

"I did."

"Then why are you giving it to me?" She blinked in confusion.

"Because I can't imagine a future without you in it." Damon picked up her hand and pressed the deed into it. "I get that you want to finish high school and probably want to go to college, experience normal human things and I want that for you too. I just want to be a part of your life."

"You are, but you don't have to give me your house to keep me with you." Elena protested.

"That's not why I'm doing it."

"Then why? I love you; I want to be with you, not your house."

Damon smiled at that. "Right back at you, Angel. There are a few reasons why. One… I want to have a place for the two of us without any bad memories." He forestalled her before she could object that they could have that if he owned it. "Two, if it's your house then no vampire can enter without your permission; you never know when that might come in handy. Three… if anything should ever happen to me…"

"Damon, don't…"

"No, hear me out; if something ever did happen to me, I would want this place to go to you, not Stefan. And four, it would just make me happy to think of this as truly our place, so say yes."

Elena stared back into his brilliant blue eyes. It was obvious he'd put a lot of thought into this. How could she say no? "Yes." She smiled, gratified to see his answering smile.

"Good. Because I already have the deed notarized in your name." He grinned, scooping her into his arms for a kiss.

"How did you manage that without me knowing about it?" She pulled back to look at him, but he fixed her with a look that spoke volumes. There wasn't much that Damon couldn't accomplish, she was coming to find.

"About what we talked about before…" Damon sobered.

Elena gave him a blank stare; they talked about a lot of things.

"About the future… there are some things I can never give you…" An unfamiliar twist of pain shadowed his features.

"Damon..." Elena interrupted him, her hand rising up to lay gently against his lips. "I don't know what the future holds or what I might want five, or ten years from now. But I do know that I love you and I want to be with you. That's all that matters, isn't it?"

"No, Elena, it's not all that matters. I want more."

Elena's breath caught at the intensity she saw in his eyes. "What do you mean you want more? That's all I can give you."

"I want to know that in five or ten or fifty years I'll be waking up with you beside me. I want to know that I won't ever be alone again. I don't want to wait for someday any more, I need you here with me now."

A gasp left her lips, was he asking her what she thought he was? "Are you asking me to become a vampire?" That was the only way she could imagine meeting that condition.

"No, I'm asking you to marry me. Right now. I mean hop in the car and drive up to Maryland or fly to Vegas or Mexico or wherever you want to go but I never want to spend another night without you. I want to know that you're really mine."

"I am yours." Elena insisted, overwhelmed by the proposal. Somehow she got the impression that he hadn't been planning on asking her either, or he would have done this with a ring and not the deed to the house.

"So marry me then." He implored her. "We can do the whole white wedding again later if you want, but for now, I just… please… be my wife."

Elena had a vision then of their life together. No more sneaking around, no more darkness; free to travel the world together or stay at home snuggled up in front of the fire. Free to start her life with him anew. "Mrs. Elena Salvatore… I kind of like the sound of that."

Pure joy lit Damon's face and he caught Elena up in his arms and swung her around and around with glee before setting her gently atop the kitchen counter; holding her close. "So, Mrs. Salvatore. Any requests? I can't deny my bride anything on her wedding day." He smiled, fingers sifting through her glossy dark locks.

"Just one." Elena leaned forward, whispering fevered words at his ear, painting a darkly erotic picture for him. "What do you think Mr. Salvatore?" She smiled archly, pulling back to catch his heated expression.

"I think, that we'd better get a limo to drive us to the airport. I'm gonna need my hands free for that." He grinned.

**A/N: It's been a great ride guys! I hope to continue at the end of season 2 with where I think the show should go, we'll see you there. In the meantime, I've got the other fic going and I'll be picking up a couple of new ones in October and you can always see what I'm up to on my website (URL can be found on my profile page) **

**Thanks for the great comments on the Vampire Diaries episode recaps on my website, I'm loving all the great theories!**

**Last chance…**

**Feedback is love people **


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